Stranger Things Collection
by Wandering Paladin
Summary: A collection of Stranger Things One-Shots. Send me prompts and I'll write them out! Latest: El catches the flu, so Mike takes care of her.
1. Chapter 1: A Perfect Gift

Hello majestic readers of the internet!

Welcome to the first installment of my Stranger Things one-shot collection. Like it says in the summary, you send me prompts of one-shots you want to read, and I try to bring them to life. This first one was requested by a friend of mine IRL after I finally got her to watch the series.

 **Update: February 3-** This is the second version of this prompt that I'm posting, due to similarity to another story. Again, a big apology to waterbaby134 for the whole problem. If you get the chance, definitely go read some of their stuff, they're an amazing author. I hope this takes a sufficiently different direction on the topic than the first version, I added a whole bunch more stuff(which is why it's over twice as long), and I decided to address a few things from the series that I felt deserved more attention.

Prompt: The boys set up a special Christmas surprise for El and Mike

* * *

With a groan, Dustin falls back onto the Byers' couch, dropping a notebook on the ground in surrender and hanging an arm over his face.

"Algebra sucks," He complains. "Why does Mr. Merkal have to give us another test the week before vacation?"

"At least you don't have to write an essay analyzing a 'classic Christmas story' in the same week," Lucas shoots back, glaring at the paper in front of him.

Max and Will share a glance with each other. Neither of them have the test or essay to worry about, though Max has a history quiz to study for, and Will needs to finish his piece for the Christmas Art Showcase by Wednesday.

"When's Mike supposed to get here again?" Dustin asks.

"According to Mike, an eternity, according to Nancy, around three," Will answers, getting a snort from Max. "Why, do you need help with something?"

"I need to ask him about the stupid polynomial factoring worksheet," Dustin groans. "I tried to take out the GCF and everything, but it's being stupid."

"I don't think _it's_ being stupid," Max mutters, just loud enough for Will to hear. The boy suppresses a chuckle, though he doesn't fully succeed.

"How long could he possibly be Christmas shopping for?" Lucas wonders aloud.

"He's shopping with his mother, _and_ Nancy, _and_ Holly," Dustin informs him. "It'll be a miracle if they're done by Christmas."

"Then he's going to miss the one day El gets to visit," Lucas comments, not totally unsympathetic. Mike has been looking forward to this day more than any of them.

"I still want to know how El convinced Hopper," Will says, getting a few nods of agreement from his friends.

"Didn't Mike just start begging at the station every day?" Max asks.

"Well, yeah, but that was doomed from the start," Lucas answers. "A) Hopper is _the_ most stubborn person on the planet, so begging does jack shit, and B) Hopper told him he wouldn't get to see El at all if he kept showing up."

"That's rough," She mutters. "But yeah, I guess I want to know now too."

"You know what I want to know?" Dustin inquires from the couch.

"How to do polynomial factoring?" Will hazards.

"No, well, yes, but not right now," Dustin responds. "What the hell should I get Mike for Christmas? He's literally got everything."

"Get him a portrait of Eleven for his closet shrine," Max tells him, getting a snigger out of Will and Lucas.

"I'm being serious, for once," Dustin retorts. "Christmas is, like, almost a week away and I've got jack shit to give him."

"I don't actually have anything for him either," Will admits guiltily.

"You couldn't find anything either?" Lucas asks, passively admitting to it too.

Max snorts, and then shrinks a little under the three sets of eyes that turn to her.

"Did _you_ get him anything?" Dustin asks with a bit of attitude.

"No," Max answers plainly. "But he also doesn't like me, for whatever reason now. I have no plans to be the bigger person here."

"He's warming up to you," Lucas assures her, to which she scoffs.

"Yeah, he went from 'get out' to 'tolerating you', that's not saying much," Max retorts. "And I haven't even gotten to _talk_ to Eleven yet."

"El will come around," Will says with a reassuring smile. "Once she realizes you and Lucas are a thing, she'll probably be fine."

"You think so?" Max asks skeptically.

Lucas silently thanks that it's hard to tell when he blushes, because Max hadn't denied that they're a thing, and puts his head back to his essay to hide it.

"I know so," Will responds. "Even if she doesn't really understand it, she's just jealous of you right now."

"Why the hell would she be jealous of _me_?" Max questions incredulously. "She's the one that can kill Demodogs and close portals with her mind, I'm just good at Dig Dug and skateboarding."

"And you also get to see Mike, and the rest of us, every day," Will points out. "She'd probably kill to do that, I mean, didn't you see the way they hugged? Having another girl in the group must be a little threatening, since you could steal Mike away from her, and she's not here to do anything about it."

"But he hates me too!" Max exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. "Can't they get that point across to each other?! I just want some friends!"

"Maybe you should try to talk to her when she gets here today," Lucas suggests. "We'll try to pry Mike away for a few minutes, and you tell that you're not trying to steal Mike from her."

"That's gonna be like trying to split an atom," Dustin complains. "The only way he's going to leave El alone is if she goes to the bathroom, and then he'll probably just wait outside the door like a lost puppy!"

"We'll figure something out," Will says with certainty.

"Speaking of figuring things out," Lucas interjects, hoping to change the subject. "What are we going to do about getting Mike a gift?"

"We could always pool in on something," Will suggests. "If it's all of us, we could probably get him something he doesn't already have."

"Why not just get him some comic books?" Max inquires, giving the three boys a questioning look. "Or some of that D&D stuff?"

"We got him comic books last year," Dustin answers with another groan. "And I know for a fact that he already has the newest issues, we were at the comic book store together."

"And he already has the latest D&D stuff," Will adds. "Since he's our DM, he's always the first to order all the new stuff."

"And we've tried video games in the past," Lucas says with a sigh. "Anything worth getting that he doesn't already have is way beyond our budget. His dad has some important cushy job, so they each get a huge allowance, and he gets it himself."

"You guys leave this till the last minute every year?" Max questions.

"Only because shopping for Mike is a fucking nightmare!" Dustin exclaims.

"Watch the language in there!" Mrs. Byers calls from another part of the house.

"Sorry mom!" Will shouts back, giving Dustin the stink eye.

"Why not just tie a ribbon to El and make her his gift?" Max suggests sarcastically, laughing a little at her own joke.

The boys, however, don't laugh. They all start to exchange looks, something Max immediately picks up on.

"You guys know I was joking, right?" She says, a little nervous. "You can't actually give a person as a gift."

"Yeah, we know that," Dustin retorts, just as sarcastically as she was before. "But if you guys are thinking what I'm thinking..."

"If we can get Hopper to let them spend some time together, alone..." Will continues, a big grin forming on his face.

"It would be the perfect gift, forever," Lucas finishes. "We'd never have to worry about how crappy our gifts are in the future, he'll never like them as much as this one! And he'd _so_ owe us for this!"

"We could finally get him to share his new comic books," Will says, though secretly, Mike already lends them to him, but he won't tell the others that.

"And get him to pay for snacks every once in a while," Dustin adds, ever thinking with his stomach as well as his brain.

"Hey, um, guys?" Max interrupts, waving her hands. "Sorry to be the voice of reason here, but isn't Hopper like _super_ overprotective? And you want to try to convince him to let Eleven be alone with Mike? With a _boy_?"

The grins on the boys faces fall when she points that out. It's all perfect in theory, but the insurmountable obstacle of Hopper shuts it all down. The room falls silent for a while, until Will finally finds his voice.

"I still think we should try," He says. "If it were one of us in this position, Mike would try to help us."

"Maybe if it were one of _you_ ," Max mutters, rolling her eyes.

"Max's problems getting people to like her aside," Dustin continues, getting a glare from the redhead, and from Lucas. "I agree. He jumped off a freaking cliff for me, I could stand to stick my neck out a little."

"Hold on a second here," Lucas says, voicing the group sentiment before Dustin can say anything else. "He jumped off a _cliff_ for you? _When_ was this?"

"Oh, right, you guys weren't there..." Dustin murmurs, feeling a little guilty, though if it's because he hadn't told them or because he's about to, he can't tell. "It was back during that first week, when El was living in Mike's basement. After you and Mike had your fight and were too stubborn to make up, El was still missing, so we went looking for her. We met Troy and James in the woods, and they chased us all the way to the quarry."

Dustin's normal excited storytelling voice is absent, trying to stick to the facts of what happened. It's still not something he likes to remember.

"They caught up to us, and then Troy got me and pulled a knife," The boy continues, to many concerned looks from his friends. "He threatened to cut my teeth out if Mike didn't jump, something about making him wet himself like El made Troy do at the assembly. I tried to tell him not to do it, but of course Mike actually did it, he jumped off the cliff, just for me."

"How the hell isn't he dead then?" Max interjects. "That fall's, like, two hundred feet! There's no way he'd survive that!"

"El saved him," Dustin tells them, and understanding spreads across their faces. "She caught him about a third of the way down, and then lifted him back up. And as if that wasn't enough, she broke Troy's arm with her mind and sent them running. We never really talked about it again, El coming back kind of took precedence, but still..."

"Then we're doing this," Max says with a note of finality.

"What happened to being the 'voice of reason' in this plan?" Lucas asks.

"He may not like me, yet, but if he's willing to kill himself for his friends, I'll cut him some slack," She answers, a little smirk playing across her lips. "Plus, this story gives me an idea for how we can convince Hopper."

As the redheaded mastermind explains her plan, the boys start to get their grins back. It's something they never would have thought of on their own, which means it's something Hopper would never expect from them.

XxX

By the time Mike shows up, their plan is well in hand, as is most of their homework. He's red and breathless from the bike ride over, but his relief at finally being there is more than evident to the rest of the party.

"How was shopping?" Dustin teases, getting a glare from his friend.

"It was awful," Mike answers. "My mom made us go to _literally_ every store, and try on every piece of clothing there was. And then we didn't even buy half of it!"

"Did you get anything for El?" Will asks, hoping to improve Mike's mood.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Mike says, a smile forming on his face. "Since the Snowball is at the end of next week, I thought I should actually ask her to go. Nancy helped me pick something out, so in the end I got her this."

He pulls a little box out of his pocket, opening it to reveal a necklace. It doesn't seem particularly expensive, even on Mike's normal allowance he has limits, but it's in the shape of a snowflake.

"Seems a little cheesy to me," Max comments, trying to get a rise out of him.

Mike just blushes and puts the necklace away self consciously.

"She'll love it," Will assures him. "Just remember, you have to top it at Christmas."

"Oh, don't worry, that's covered already," Mike responds, another grin forming. "It completely cleaned me out, plus I had to borrow money from mom and Nancy, and I'll have to start shovelling driveways for the rest of the winter, but it'll be worth it. It's perfect."

Will raises an eyebrow, but Mike says no more.

"Hey, Mike," Dustin calls from the living room, picking up his notebook. "Did you finish the math homework yet?"

"Yeah, I did it while Nancy was trying on clothes, why?" Mike responds, finally remembering to hang up his coat.

"Did you FOIL them or something?" Dustin asks when Mike joins him. "I can't get them to work."

"You shouldn't have to FOIL anything for this worksheet," Mike answers as he sits down next to Dustin, moving some other papers out of the way. "We're just supposed to break it down into two binomials by grouping."

"What does that mean?" Dustin complains, and shows the paper to Mike. "I was falling asleep when Merkal explained this."

"Well, it's simple, FOIL turns two binomials into a trinomial, right?" Mike continues, getting a blank stare from Dustin. "And factoring it would bring you from a larger polynomial to two binomials?"

"I said I was falling asleep," Dustin tells him, which makes Mike roll his eyes.

"It's easy," He says. "You put the first two terms together and the last two terms together in parentheses. Each set has a common factor to take out, which should leave you with the same thing in both parentheses. Then the term in the parentheses becomes one of your binomials, and the two things you took out go together to make the second binomial."

He takes the pencil from Dustin, showing him the steps for the first problem, and Dustin follows along pretty well. In minutes, he's flying through the worksheet, and Mike checks a few of his problems.

Once Dustin's math is sorted out, and Dustin swears not to sleep in class anymore so Mike won't have to reteach him, Max actually asks him for help with the biology homework, which Will listens in on to check his own work. Lucas eyes them with some envy, still trying to finish his essay.

In tutor mode, Mike barely notices the time passing, until he hears the roar of Hopper's Blazer getting closer. Thankfully, they'd just gone over the last explanation Max needed, because he scrambles to his feet, completely disregarding anything else he'd been doing.

He swings his coat on as he runs outside, the door only swinging half closed behind him. His excitement is only matched by El's own, as she practically leaps out of the passenger door before the truck comes to a full stop.

They fly into each other's arms like there's a magnet between them. Anyone with working ears can hear their shouts of excitement, and anybody with working eyes can see how much they missed each other just by how they hug.

Hopper hears and sees both, though he doesn't seem particularly happy about it. He slams the car door shut, eyeing the oblivious pair with annoyance, particularly directing the gaze at Mike.

"Watch the hands, Wheeler," He warns, finally getting their attention. "You might lose them if you're not careful."

If it's possible for Mike to go pale and red at the same time, he does, reluctantly ending his hug with El. Despite that, their hands are still firmly locked together.

Hopper shakes his head and goes inside with a last warning look, meeting Joyce at the door. Mike and El follow more slowly, stealing glances at each other the whole time, and giggling when they catch each other looking.

El lets go of Mike's hand when they get inside, just long enough to take off their coats and give hugs to the other boys and Mrs. Byers. Max offers a handshake, just like their last meeting, but El just stares at it, her hand slipping back into Mike's.

Max hisses in frustration, not that Mike or El notice, and Will gives her his best reassuring look. She'll get her chance before everyone leaves.

The kids clear up their homework and set out some board games, El's eyes lighting up when scrabble comes out. Her year of studying the dictionary, and of words of the day, will finally come in handy.

Through all of it, Mike and El hold hands, despite how difficult it makes some games. Even when it's revealed that the murderer was Professor Plum in the dining room with the candlestick, their connection seems unbreakable.

Dustin's prediction comes true, both ways, when they have to use the bathroom. The other just patiently waits in the hall, sitting across from the door. It's just about the most private two moments they get the whole night, Hopper checking up every few minutes with a suspicious eye.

Mike takes the second opportunity, after the first one gave them a few moments alone, to give El his gift and actually ask her to the Snowball. While she loves the necklace, and insists on putting it on right away, she claims that going to the Snowball is up to Hopper, though she says she would absolutely love to go.

And that leads to the perfect opportunity for the boys to initiate their plan for Max and El. Mike takes a few minutes to go ask Hopper himself, already expecting the 'I'll consider it, but it's probably too dangerous' response.

"Hey, can you guys help me grab a few things from my room?" Will asks, looking at the other two boys as soon as Mike walks away and El rejoins them.

Luckily they pick up on the plan as well, and the three of them leave Max and El alone, giving Max encouraging grins on their way out. El puts her focus into examining the other Clue pieces, and Max takes a deep breath.

"Eleven," She says, and thankfully El looks up. "We haven't gotten off to the best start, and I think I know why."

El doesn't say anything, still levelling a cool gaze at the redhead.

"All I want is to be friends with you guys," She continues, hoping she uses the right words. "And you seem like a really cool person, so I really want to be friends with you too. Neither of us have many, or really any, girl friends, so we'd get that too."

She starts to stumble a little when El doesn't react at all, aside from setting down the candlestick piece she'd been holding.

"I think the biggest problem we have here is a misunderstanding," Max tells her as plainly as possible. "I want to clear the air for that. I do not now, nor have I ever, liked Mike the way you do. I'm not going to try to steal him from you, he's all yours, one hundred percent."

El's mouth turns down in a frown, and her eyebrows knit together a little bit.

"Seriously though, you have nothing to worry about," Max says, really hoping she doesn't get telekinetically thrown into another dimension. "Mike didn't even want me around in the first place, before you came back. He only _barely_ tolerates having me around as it is, there's no way I could steal him from you if I tried."

El continues to frown, and Max starts to sweat a little.

"Not that I'd ever try, that is," Max clarifies, just in case. "I'm actually, kind of, with Lucas right now. I'm not sure if it really counts as dating, but you can be sure I'm not interested in Mike. So, can we _please_ try to be friends? Please?"

With that Max shuts her mouth, absolutely certain that anything else she says will just make matters worse between them. She takes the chance to marvel at how long Mike is managing to stay away, El's hand must be getting cold by now.

"You... and Lucas?" El finally murmurs, dragging Max's attention back to reality. "Not you and Mike?"

"Not me and Mike," Max assures her. " _You_ and Mike, _me_ and Lucas."

El goes silent for another few seconds, the most stressful seconds of Max's life.

Okay, _maybe_ that's an exaggeration, considering what happened, but _still_.

"Friends," El says, giving Max a little smile.

Max does all but sigh in relief, visibly relaxing.

As if by some planetary alignment, Mike comes back right after that, as do the other boys, holding a couple new games.

"Max and I are friends now," El reports to Mike as they join hands again.

"Really?" He responds, more than a little perplexed.

"I won't steal your girlfriend, Wheeler, don't worry," Max teases. "But you could stand to be a little nicer to me now, you know how girls talk and all, I can get you in the doghouse one way or another."

She's already acting like they're best friends, but at this point she needs the confidence boost. It's never been _this_ hard for her to make friends before.

Luckily Will draws attention back to the games before Mike can say anything else, though they do notice El asking him a hushed question. All Mike does is blush and mumble something back, to which she nods.

Even when dinner is called, and they're stuck under the hawk-like gaze of Hopper, Mike and El keep their hands bound together. Their chairs are as close together as they can get, and their legs almost brush against each other. The surly police chief makes another comment about Mike watching his hands, but Joyce gives him a look of her own to make him behave.

"I guess we can call this family dinner now," Joyce starts once everyone is in the dining room, and then gets a little startled when a flash goes off.

"Sorry mom, this was too good a shot to pass up," Jonathan apologizes, setting his camera down and taking his place next to his brother. Joyce shakes her head, but with a smile on her face.

"As I was saying, I think we can call this our new little family," Joyce says, picking up where she left off and raising her glass for a toast. "After everything that's happened, it's good that we're all here for each other."

Everyone raises their glasses as well, clinking them together. El doesn't seem to understand the part with the glasses, but when Mike gives her an encouraging smile she joins in as well, though she almost breaks her glass in enthusiasm.

It becomes immediately apparent that El has no idea what half the things on the table are, except for the bowl of peas, which she eyes with what is probably meant to be veiled disgust.

Joyce leans closer to Hopper to whisper.

"Have you fed her anything except for tv dinners and eggos?" She asks, irritation lacing her hushed tone.

"I get burgers sometimes, or a bucket of chicken and sides," Hopper says defensively, though he can feel that he'll regret it.

Joyce lightly hits him on the arm, her face just screaming disapproval even if she's keeping her words under control at the table.

"You and I are going to be having a talk about this after dinner," She tells him, her mom voice brooking no argument. "She needs a balanced diet, especially after what she's been through, not frozen dinners and fast food."

"Okay, okay," Hopper responds.

On the short list of things that still scare him, angry Joyce is very near the top.

While they have their whispered argument, Mike does his best to introduce El to the different dishes on the table. She picks out chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, and a small spoonful of the runny mashed potatoes. He offers her samples off of his plate, all but feeding them to her.

In the end, she decides that she likes corn, slightly-burnt biscuits, and turkey with gravy, with a mixed reaction to asparagus and roasted potatoes. Whether it's because she doesn't like them, or the fact that Mrs. Byers isn't the _greatest_ chef on the planet, remains uncertain. She practically drowns her chicken nuggets in barbecue sauce, shaking her head when Dustin offers her the ketchup instead.

By the end of the night, they're both on the couch, falling asleep leaning against each other, their heads nestled together. The other kids exchange grins, knowing for certain that if they can pull off the plan, it'll be _the_ greatest gift either of the two could get.

After getting an earful from Joyce about expanding El's diet, Hopper just seems like he wants to leave and go to bed, growling a little when he sees Mike and El on the couch. Joyce lays a warning hand on his arm, to which he rolls his eyes.

She goes to wake them up so they can say their goodbyes, Hopper waiting impatiently by the door. He all but has an aneurysm when El snuggles closer to Mike, wrapping an arm around his torso like a pillow, murmuring for five more minutes of sleep. It doesn't help that Mike has an arm around her too.

Joyce gives him another warning look, and he goes back to grumbling under his breath. She tries again to shake them both awake, finally getting them to open their eyes. The first thing El does is look up at Mike and smile. The first thing Mike does is turn so red that he practically glows when he sees what position they're in.

"Time to say goodbye," Joyce tells them. El's smile turns to a pout.

To Mike's eternal relief, El gets up to give the others their hugs, bypassing Max's handshake offer altogether, much to the redhead's surprise. In the meantime Mike stands, adjusts his clothes, and tries to fight down his blush.

He and El hug twice more, once before they put their coats on, and again on the Byers' front porch while Hopper starts the car.

"I'll miss you," She whispers as they hold each other as tightly as they can.

"Not as much as I'll miss you," Mike tells her, which makes her giggle a little.

The Blazer roars to life, bathing them in the glare of the headlights. They hug for a little longer, until Hopper honks at them to hurry up. Mike lets go and starts to step back, but El doesn't, moving with him.

"I don't want to go," She murmurs with a sniffle. "Not again."

Mike's arms encircle her again, rubbing her back gently.

"It won't be for long this time," Mike assures her. "Hopper might change his mind about the Snowball, and we'd see each other next Friday. If not, then the Christmas party is next Sunday. We'll see each other soon."

"I don't like _soon_ ," El informs him with distaste.

Hopper honks again, louder than the last time.

"You should go," Mike tells her, even if he wishes otherwise. "If Hopper's mad he won't let us see each other. I'll still call you every night, I promise."

"Promise?" She asks, still not wanting to let go.

"I promise," He answers, letting go with one arm to hold out his pinky. Between them, if a promise is sacred, a pinky promise is so much more. "Seven-four-zero, every day, until we see each other again."

El reluctantly lets go, but wraps her pinky around his.

"Seven-four-zero," She murmurs.

When they let go, El starts to step toward the Blazer, but then seems to remember something. Mike opens his mouth to ask when she turns back around, but he never gets the chance to say anything.

El plants a light kiss on his cheek before scampering off to the Blazer, leaving Mike red as a tomato and effectively mute. All he can do is stand there, his mouth still hanging open, the feeling of her lips still on his cheek, as Hopper drives away.

"You're either going to catch flies or a cold, Mike," Mrs. Byers says, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come back inside."

Mike is still speechless, his hand going to his cheek, but follows Mrs. Byers inside.

The other kids resist the urge to tease Mike for the time being, throwing matching grins at each other. The plan is perfect.

XxX

As it turns out, the plan is not as perfect as they thought.

In the following week they go to the station three days in a row after school. They only get to talk to Hopper on their third try, the man himself having been out on a call when they showed up the last two times. Who knew things ever actually happened in Hawkins that don't involve other dimensions?

"Here for Hopper again?" Florence asks when they walk in the door on Wednesday. She smiles at them when they nod, still trying to warm up. "You're in luck, it's been a slow day. He's in his office, just head through that door there, down the hall, second door on the right side. Knock before you go in."

If they're surprised or relieved at the news, the kids do their best to hide it. If anything, they all seem nervous as they walk toward the office. Even they can barely hear Will's first knock, which he has to repeat.

"Come in," Hopper calls, boredom lacing his tone.

If Hopper had been expecting anything, it's definitely not four kids shuffling into his office and closing the door behind them. There's a single chair in front of his desk, but none of them sit down.

Hopper groans internally, sighs externally, and grinds the butt of his last cigarette into the ashtray on his desk.

"This is the third time you've come down here this week," He says tersely, levelling an otherwise blank gaze at them. "This better be important."

The kids all look at each other to start talking, the one thing they'd never agreed on. Hopper may have saved their butts, some more than once, but he's still the Chief of Police, and he scares them.

"Come on, get on with it," Hopper tells them in annoyance. Doesn't he have enough to deal with without bands of kids bothering him at work?

"Well, um, we were thinking..." Max starts, and then looks to Lucas.

"Since it's just about Christmas time..." He continues, and then looks to Will.

"We were, um, trying to, uh, think of, um, presents..." The boy says, getting flustered under the Chief's gaze, and then trying to shrink into his coat.

"We want you to let Mike and El spend time alone together!" Dustin exclaims, cutting his friend off before he stutters himself to death. The other kids' eyes go wide, but Dustin doesn't stop there, his inner bard coming out. "All they want to do is see each other and spend time together, but they can't do that when everyone else is watching them. Just give them a few hours alone, the way it was when they first met."

When he stops for a breath, his sudden burst of confidence dies under Hopper's withering glare. There were probably better ways to ease into this request, but what's done is done.

"Did Wheeler put you up to this? Is that why he's not here right now?" Hopper demands, practically growling at them, making them shrink under his glare. "So he can get his grubby little hands all over Eleven?"

At first none of the kids say anything, until Dustin cracks. They all start to snigger, then chuckle, then they reach full blown laughing fits.

"Is this funny to you?!" Hopper demands, slamming his hands on his desk and standing up, though he's more than a bit confused by their laughter.

"Actually, yes, it's really funny," Dustin tells him, managing to control himself just long enough to speak.

"Care to share, then?" Hopper says, his voice dangerously close to an edge.

The kids fight their laughter down as quickly as they can, trying to get back on track with their ingenious plan.

"Sorry, it's just..." Will starts, his sides still shaking.

"Mike would never ask _us_ for help with this," Lucas continues, biting his lip so he won't keep laughing. "He's too chicken."

"He's more scared of you than the four of us put together," Dustin finishes, which the Chief takes special note of for the future. "He'd probably kill us if he knew we were here right now."

"And as for try to get his 'grubby hands on Eleven'," Max adds with an enduring snigger. "Mike turns into a stuttering tomato if they hold hands, he couldn't speak for an hour last night after you left because El kissed him on the _cheek_ , he'd probably explode into a million pieces just _thinking_ of doing anything else."

Hopper can't seem to decide who he should be glaring at, each of the kids seems pretty annoying to him at the moment.

"Mike doesn't have a good history with girls, either," Will says, finding enough confidence to speak again. "El is basically the first girl to like him at all. Until she came along he could barely talk to girls that he wasn't related to."

Dustin and Lucas start to laugh again, drawing the Chief's gaze for an instant before it moves back to Will.

"There was this time in sixth grade," Will continues, with another little giggle. "One of the eighth grade girls told him she liked his shirt when we were at lunch. He forgot to swallow what he was drinking before he thanked her, and ran out of the cafeteria dripping chocolate milk."

"What about the time he got assigned Jennifer Hayes as a lab partner later that year," Lucas steps in. "All they were supposed to do was evaporate salt water, but he managed to set his sleeve on fire because he was too nervous. He had to be shirtless in front of the class for half an hour because he burned his shirt before his mom showed up with a change. And then she started babying him, and checking for burns, so Mike couldn't show his face for _weeks_."

"Okay, you can hold it right there," Hopper interjects, seeing through the plan. "You're trying to convince me that he won't do anything, but you can stop. I'm not letting Eleven be alone with a teenage boy with teenage hormones."

"Mike isn't all hormones, though," Lucas insists. "He's an amazing guy, he's just awkward as hell around girls. He'd never do anything to hurt her, or talk her into doing anything inappropriate."

Hopper opens his mouth again, but Dustin just starts talking, much more seriously than Hopper can ever remember him being, though that isn't saying much.

"Mike Wheeler is a lot of things, a giant nerd foremost among them, but that's besides the point here. He is, by far, above and beyond, the most loyal and protective person I've _ever_ had the benefit of knowing," He starts, looking Hopper dead in the eye, and for once not shying away from the glare. "I get that you're scared of El getting into the dating world, but of all people she could possibly have chosen, Mike is the best. There's no way in _hell_ that he's going to treat her as anything less than the most amazing, precious person on planet earth. Under normal circumstances, your concerns would be perfectly understandable, but Mike would jump off a cliff before he takes advantage of her."

"Alright, that's enough," Hopper interrupts. "Now you're just laying it on thick-"

"You think so?" Dustin retorts, cutting Hopper off right back with a glare of his own. "Because he already jumped off a cliff for me, and I'm pretty sure he likes El a lot more than me." For the first time, Hopper is rendered speechless, but Dustin doesn't stop. "He was willing to jump off a cliff that would mean certain death, whether he knew that at the time or not, just so _I_ wouldn't get hurt. So excuse me if I start 'laying it on thick', because Mike deserves it."

The whole office is silent once he finishes, and Dustin resists the urge to wipe his eyes. His story had been a lot more emotional than he expected when he started. The one to break the silence, is Max.

"He cares about Eleven more than anyone in the world," She says, telling Hopper the facts instead of trying to convince him. "When we first met, he wanted nothing to do with me, and he was against letting me join the group. To him, there was only a spot for one girl, and it would always be Eleven, even after she was gone for a year."

Hopper listens quietly, his expression much more solemn.

"He _still_ doesn't really like me, but we're making progress," Max continues, the corners of her mouth turning up when she almost laughs. "At first I thought it was because he had some kind of crush on El, before she left, but I was wrong. To him, she's irreplaceable, and he's willing to do _anything_ that means she might be safer."

She pauses for a second, the memories of that night in November playing in her mind. One stands out above the others.

"It was all his idea to burn the hub in the tunnels," She explains. "He knew there might be Demodogs down there, but he also knew that there would be more at the lab. Lightning it on fire would draw the dogs away, toward us, but that didn't seem to matter to him, since it would mean they wouldn't be near El. We all went with him, but I'm pretty sure he would have gone on his own if we said no, even if it killed him."

She stops again when she feels something slide down her cheek. She hadn't even noticed the tears in her eyes, from the memories of that night.

"I think that's enough," Hopper says, a lot more gently than the last times. Lucas puts a hand on Max's shoulder.

The four kids look at Hopper with a mix of expressions, from anxiety to hope, and Hopper finally lets out a last big sigh.

"Fine, I'll let them spend the day together before the party," He relents, though it still doesn't fully sit right with him. "But if he move one toe out of line-"

"He won't," Dustin cuts in, getting an annoyed glare in response.

"And if any of you tell him about this, the deal's off," Hopper continues. "I don't need Wheeler thinking I like him."

"Just leave that to us," Will assures him.

"We have a plan," Max explains with a small smirk.

XxX

As it turns out, keeping the secret from Mike is much easier than they anticipated. Mike definitely has his suspicions through the rest of the week, but his attention is more on the chance that Hopper still just might let El go to the Snowball on Friday night. Even when Mike brings up the idea that they're up to something, they played it off as homework, even getting him to tutor again.

Mike doesn't even bat an eye when Will asks him to come over early on Sunday to help set up. The excuse of Jonathan needing to go to work early basically falls on deaf ears, Mike's focus elsewhere that Friday.

Imagine his surprise that night, after he'd given up hope but still shown up anyway, when El steps through the doors of the gymnasium, looking as breathtaking as he's seen her yet. As they dance the night away, even sharing their second real kiss, neither of them can imagine how their lives could be any better than that moment.

XxX

On the morning of the party, two days before Christmas, Mike sits groggily at the dining room table munching through a bowl of cereal. His mother is already busy with work, adjusting and resetting the decorations around the house a thousand and ten times. He almost falls asleep in his breakfast, not used to being up before nine on a Sunday, let alone waking up at six so Jonathan can pick him up at seven.

He barely registers the knock at the door, stumbling to put his bowl in the sink and run some water from the tap into it. His zombie walk continues toward the stairs so he can get grab his bags from his room.

It's when he hears the Chief's voice instead of Jonathan's that he wakes up all the way. He rushes to the door to see his mother letting the man inside, dressed to go to work, with a little snow on his hat.

"Mike," The Chief greets tersely.

"Is something wrong?" Mike asks immediately. "Did something happen to-"

"Everything is fine," Hopper says before the boy can get hysterical. "Jonathan got called in earlier than he was expecting, so Joyce asked me to come get you. I need to be at the station in an hour, so let's go."

Mike breathes a sigh of relief at the news, his heart having stopped for a few moments. After another few seconds he goes to grab his bags from upstairs, his backpack with clothes and a few other things, his sleepover bag with his sleeping bag and a pillow, and a small duffel bag that holds the gifts he'd gotten for everyone. He takes special care with the last one, El's gift double wrapped in an extra hoodie, but he can never be too careful.

If Hopper is questioning the number of bags Mike has, he doesn't show it.

"Be good, Mike," His mother calls as they walk out to Hopper's Blazer. "Let me know if you need anything, Hopper, anything at all."

"What's that about?" Mike questions when he hears the last statement.

"I told about how I adopted Eleven," Hopper answers, to Mike's surprise. "Don't give me that look, somebody told her about your dance on Friday, so I made up a story. Your mother was nice enough to offer some hand-me-downs, and motherly advice if El needs it."

Mike just nods, not willing to chance anything that could start an argument today. He puts his bags in the back and gets in the passenger seat, the Chief taking off with a roar of the engine, and Mike does his very best to seem like he isn't there at all, fully aware of how the Chief doesn't like him. Instead, he stares out the window, his thoughts turning to how he and El will be together at the party.

Little does he know...

"Where are we going?" He asks as they pass yet another street that could take them to the Byers' house. A pang of trepidation runs down his spine, did Hopper hear about how he and El had kissed? Is Hopper going to actually kill him?

"Merry Christmas, kid," Hopper tells him, enjoying the puzzled look Mike gets on his face. "Your friends were nice enough to plead your case for you, so I'm going to let you spend the day with El."

Mike's eyes go wide, and his jaw hangs open at the Chief's words, unable to formulate any kind of response. His mind, however, races at a mile a minute, trying to process everything he'd just been told.

It's not until Hopper parks on a dirt road, a small path off to the side, that either of them say anything. The Chief cuts the engine, and then fixes Mike with a look.

"Your friends also told me about your little stunts these last two years," He says, and Mike shrinks into the seat. "Jumping off a cliff? Putting yourself, and everyone else, at risk to set the tunnels on fire? How dumb can you really be?!"

Hopper's voice rises in anger as he speaks, and Mike looks like he might pee himself. Ironically, that was the catalyst of one of those two situations.

"But..." Hopper continues, his tone softening again. "It was also very brave of you. Your friends are lucky to have you." He pauses there for a moment, though he still has Mike's rapt attention. "El, is lucky to have you."

"D-does that mean...?" Mike manages to stutter out, to which Hopper rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Yes, you can start visiting her at the cabin," Hopper answers, keeping his gruff expression up as Mike's face lights up, though on the inside he gets a little warm and fuzzy. "We'll talk about that some other time, though. I think El might appreciate getting her part of this gift too."

"Yes, sir," Mike responds, quickly gathering his things and getting out. Hopper allows himself a small smile before getting out as well.

As they walk through the forest, a dusting of snow falling around them, Mike trying to memorize every detail of the path, Hopper can't help but notice the extra spring in the boy's step. How every time he tries to keep his expression under control, he breaks out in a grin. How Mike would have taken off running once the cabin comes into view, if Hopper hadn't put a hand on his shoulder so he doesn't hit the tripwire.

Hopper can't help himself from feeling a pang of jealousy, though. When he was younger, he was everything he's trying to keep away from El. He hooked up with lots of girls, some that he didn't even know the names of. He was ruled by his hormones and his place on the football team, but now he wishes that he'd had friends more like Mike. The ones that were never good with girls because they were too nervous, but that would have treated every girl like a princess.

"Now remember," Hopper says, stopping just past the tripwire, knowing he only has half of Mike's attention. "This is a privilege, not a right. If you mess around with it, I'll take it away. Understand?"

Mike just nods, eyes still glued to the cabin, finally within his reach.

"And just in case you forget, you need to _swallow_ your food and drinks before speaking. That way you won't spill them on yourself," Hopper tells him, clapping him on the shoulder and finally getting Mike's horrified attention. He suppresses his urge to laugh as Mike's face turns from a grin to red and mortified. "And since you'll be here until I get out at six, that means you'll have to cook something for lunch. Try not to set yourself on fire with the stove just because there's a girl in the same room."

Each word turns Mike a darker shade of embarrassed red, and Hopper soaks up every incredible second of it. Maybe he can learn to be the accepting dad that cracks jokes about his daughter's boyfriend, instead of the dad with a gun that shoots first and asks questions never.

Leaving Mike to rethink all of his friendships at the bottom of the steps, Hopper goes to do the secret knock on the door. Mike hurries to catch up as the locks click open, his palms suddenly sweaty and a nervous knot in his stomach.

Hopper pushes the door open, holding it open for Mike to get his bags through, and then closing it behind them. Mike hesitantly sets his bags down by the door out of the way, his head on a swivel to find his reason for being there.

With a sleepy groan, El shuffles out of her room, her stuffed animal in one hand, the other rubbing the sleep out of her eye. Mike's breath catches at the sight of her, and how incredible she looks wearing oversized flannel pajama pants, a very well fitting tank-top, and a ridiculously oversized flannel shirt over the top that must have been Hopper's.

"You said six-zero-zero," She mumbles, swaying in place a little.

"Well, I guess we can come back later, if you really want," Hopper responds, seeing how Mike is speechless and using it, and El's sleepiness, to his advantage. "I just thought you might like an early Christmas gift."

That gets El to look up with bleary eyes, and then she freezes.

Then her eyes go wide.

Then she flies forward so quickly and so suddenly that she would have knocked Mike over with her hug if Hopper hadn't been standing behind them.

"Mike!" She screams in elation as she tackles him. Her arms wrap around him tightly, and she snuggles her head into the crook of his neck, which seems to be a perfect fit, at least to her. She holds him so close and so tight that it's a wonder his ribs don't crack from the pressure.

Mike doesn't mind at all, though, and once he gets his balance back he hugs her back just as fiercely. Tears of joy run down his face onto her flannel shirt. Even if it's only been two days since they saw each other at the Snowball, since they had what they thought was the most perfect night of their lives, this moment somehow shines over it.

Hopper waits patiently for them to finish, or at least he tries to. He still has his misgivings about leaving them alone, but it seems like Mike has earned, at the very least, the benefit of the doubt. However, once they reach the five minute mark of just standing there hugging, he clears his throat to remind them that he's still standing there.

The two reluctantly separate, but Hopper takes note that El practically glues herself to his side as they stand there, lacing their fingers together.

"Consider this an early gift to the both of you," He tells them, enjoying seeing them both look so happy. "I'm trusting that I can leave you two alone, though. That means you follow the rules, and no funny business."

El just nods, her attention obviously elsewhere.

"Yes, sir," Mike answers through the biggest grin of his life, though his eyes are locked to El's. Not even Hopper, try as he might, can ignore what he sees pass between them without a word.

Hopper can't resist a last dig at the boy though. If he's going to have to play the wisecracking dad instead of the threatening dad, he's damn well going to enjoy it.

"Keep it in your pants, Wheeler," He warns, glad he can still use the threatening glare. "I just got a daughter, I don't need grandkids anytime soon."

Hopper allows himself a triumphant laugh, on the inside, when Mike turns into that stuttering tomato Max had mentioned. It gets better when El gives the boy a curious look, one that he recognizes quite well.

"I'll let you explain that one, kid," He says, turning on his heel and going back out the door without another word. Hopper pauses though, just for a few seconds, to eavesdrop on what he knows is coming.

"What does 'keep it in your pants' mean?" El asks on the other side of the door, and Hopper can't help the low chuckle that comes out at the thought of how Mike must look right now. "What is _it_?"

When he hears Mike start stuttering he knows it's safe to leave. Hopper may have dug himself a hole for later, needing to explain the birds and the bees to El, or at least give her a better version than Wheeler, but for the time being, it's worth it.

"This could be fun," He murmurs to himself, none but the wind, trees, and snow around to hear him.

XxX

Mike and El spend the day exactly the way they've wanted to for so long. Together.

They sit on the couch, close enough that they might just fuse into one being, talking about everything and nothing while the tv plays El's soaps in the background. El shows him around her bedroom, Mike turning a shade of pink, one that El starts to like seeing on him, at the realization that he's in a girl's bedroom, and they're _alone_. Mike shows El how to fry an egg, much to her fascination that they can be something other than scrambled.

He cannot, however, claim that he doesn't almost set himself on fire, again. At first the stove refuses to light, though Mike can smell the gas coming out, there's just no spark to light it. Hopper keeps a spare lighter in the drawer, which El shows him when he asks her, so he tries to use that instead.

What he doesn't do, is remember to turn off the gas all the way while they get the lighter from the drawer. He only left it on low, so thankfully he doesn't blow up the cabin, but he scares the both of them when a cloud of fire appears above the stove for a few seconds. Mike crashes to the ground, his heart racing, and the sudden heat still tingling on his face. As it so happens, that's because a few strands of hair are smoldering on the ends, but El quickly pats them out before latching onto Mike again. They sit there for several minutes, until their pulses go back to normal.

"Let's not tell Hopper about this," Mike pleads. "Please."

"Okay," El murmurs.

Despite the less-than-great start, the eggs turn out pretty nice, and El gets to try her first simple fried egg sandwich.

The only moments when they aren't within inches of each other are when they go to the bathroom, or when El changes into her regular clothes. Mike exists in a near-constant state of turning red when El leaves the doors open, the concept of 'privacy' around each other evidently not fully struck home when they're alone.

Mike's tomato impression has a resurgence when he shows El the matching santa hats that he bought for them. El insists on putting it on his head for him, and that he put hers on for her, and then plants a kiss on his cheek.

They play board games on the dinner table, Mike reads some of her favorite stories to her, makes up a couple stories of his own, and El convinces him to watch parts of the soaps on tv with her.

By the time Hopper returns, they're snuggled together on the couch under a blanket, El excitedly explaining everything that had happened in one of the soaps up until the point they're watching. Mike feigns interest in the program, but barely even looks at the screen.

"I don't smell smoke," Hopper comments first thing when he walks through the door, turning Mike red again, and giving El a tiny smile that she tries to hide. The man walks over to the fridge, opens it, and shakes the milk carton. "And you avoided the milk, too. Wise choice."

"What does he mean?" El asks at a whisper.

"It's nothing," Mike mumbles in embarrassment. Hopper knowing about his monumental screwups with girls is bad enough, Mike doesn't need El thinking he's a total wasteoid too, especially after he almost made a repeat of setting himself on fire. "Don't worry about it."

El pouts at him, but drops the subject, electing to cuddle closer against his side.

"So, did you enjoy your day?" Hopper asks once Mike is sufficiently red.

"I loved it," El answers, squeezing Mike's arm and smiling at him. "We played games, and read books, and watched tv, and talked, and Mike cooked, and I got to show him my room, and Mike explained what 'keep it in your pants' means, and he kept it in his pants all day."

As if Mike weren't embarrassed enough, the end of El's rambling list turns him a shade of red he'd never reached before.

"Well, isn't that nice," Hopper responds, walking back over to the couch area so he can look at the two kids. "And what exactly did Mike explain to you?"

"He told me the difference between boy parts and girl parts," El reports, still holding onto Mike's arm. The boy himself looks like he wants to die, or vanish from the face of the earth. "And how when two people really like each other they have the sex, and sometimes they get babies, but he said we can't until we're older. I asked him how much older, but he said he doesn't know, and to ask someone else because talking about it makes him uncomfortable."

 _'Hopper's going to murder me. I knew it was a bad idea, but she kept asking, and now I'm dead. I didn't even get to finish puberty...'_

Hopper just starts to laugh.

"Well, he got most of that right," The man says, looking down at his daughter's smiling face and Mike's practically glowing face. This whole 'nonviolent dad' thing is more fun than he thought it would be. "I think we'll let Joyce handle the rest though, there are some things that are different for girls. As _knowledgeable_ as Mike may be on the topic, he's not quite as qualified to talk about the rest."

"Okay," El says, taking him at his word.

It's a wonder Mike hasn't passed out, or gotten a nose bleed, with all the blood in his face. This has to be the single most mortifying day of his life, even worse than the time his mother had started babying him in front of his class after he accidentally set his shirt on fire.

"Well, it's already six fifteen, we need to get going," Hopper announces after letting Mike stew for a little. "El, put on your nice clothes, and don't forget the presents you got for everyone."

El gives Mike another kiss on the cheek before getting up to go change again.

"Busy day?" Hopper questions once the door is mostly closed. Mike just puts his face in his hands so he doesn't have to look at anyone. "You've got more guts than I thought, explaining sex to El."

He keeps his tone level so Mike can't get a read on what he really thinks, but Mike automatically assumes the worst.

"Can you at least bury me somewhere nice?" Mike pleads through his hands.

Hopper can't stop himself from laughing at that one, which gets Mike to finally look up from his shame.

"I was giving you a compliment, for once," Hopper points out, which leaves Mike dumbfounded. "But in all seriousness, if you even _dream_ of doing _anything_ like that with El until you're adults, I will shoot you."

Threatening dad still has its perks.

Of course, Hopper isn't foolish enough to think that Mike would so much as try anything of that nature. He's more worried that El will get curious, and Mike won't know how to say no to her puppy dog eyes.

Mike's face turns pale at the threat, nodding vigorously so he won't get shot. Hopper smirks internally at his newfound success in parenting.

By the time El is ready to go, Mike has a relatively normal color in his face, no longer matching either portion of his santa hat. He does, however, turn a little pink when he sees El's outfit. Apparently her 'nice' clothes consist of a pair of jeans that had probably been Nancy's, and a Christmas sweater that Mike is pretty sure was made by their aunt Cathy a few years back.

In his eyes, though, she looks beautiful, like a Christmas angel. She has a very subtle amount of makeup on, in the only way she'd been taught to apply it, and Mike can't seem to decide which part of her he wants to be mesmerized by first.

"Come on, lover boy," Hopper says, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder before putting his hat back on.

Mike hurries to hide his blush at being caught staring by meticulously putting on his coat. El puts on her coat beside him, and he finally notices the snowflake necklace around her neck. They smile at each other, gathering their bags of things, one of presents for El, and the other three for Mike.

Despite how loaded up he is, they still find a way to hold hands on the walk to the car, stepping carefully in the dark. Hopper doesn't stop them from climbing in the back seat together, though he does adjust his mirror to keep an eye on them.

XxX

Their friends, as well as Nancy and Steve, are already waiting for them when they get to the Byers', each of them grinning while Mike and El take off their coats.

"So...?" Will asks once they turn around again.

"So, what?" Mike questions, playing dumb.

"Did you like our present?" Dustin practically shouts.

The pair smiles again, their hands linking together almost unconsciously.

"It was...perfect," El answers, a matching blush appearing on their cheeks.

"You can thank Max, it was her idea," Lucas tells them.

"We were pretty heavily involved," Dustin interjects.

"Yeah, but the original idea was Max's," Lucas points out. "And it was _her_ plan that got it all to work."

Lucas and Dustin descend into another of their famous arguments. El takes the initiative and gives Max a hug, murmuring her thank you. And as if that isn't enough for her, Mike extends a hand.

"Party rules, I drew first blood, a while ago," He says, a nervous half-grin on his face. To his ever-loving thanks, Max shakes. "And thanks, for everything."

"Don't you go getting mushy on me, Wheeler," Max responds with her normal sarcasm. "Save it for your girlfriend."

Mike turns a darker shade of pink, but nods, his hand dropping from Max's and finding El's. Max smiles, though, because she just got a pretty good present, too.

"Dinner, everyone!" Joyce announces from the kitchen, taking a chicken out of the oven. Considering the number of people they have, it's a ridiculously undersized bird, but as it turns out, Steve brought a family sized bucket of chicken with him as his dinner contribution.

As they dig in, everyone starts trying to complain the loudest about how their relatives are at Christmas time. Max's aunt Meredith who, along with all four of her kids, have a million and ten things they're allergic to and can't eat. Lucas' grandpa George who ends up with all the serving spoons because he forgets that he took them. Dustin's younger cousin Abigail who insists on playing the violin for them every year even though she sounds like a dying cat because she never practices. Will and Jonathan's uncle Patrick who thought they were both girls for years. Mike and Nancy's aunt Debra who insists on making the world's worst casserole every year. Even Hopper reminisces about how one of his uncles always brought a fully cooked turkey with him every year, only one year he switched out the inside with a balloon that exploded and launched confetti on everyone. To this day, he still can't figure out how his uncle did it so convincingly.

El sits there with a big smile on her face, more than happy to be around all the people she loves, but on the inside, she wishes she could have a story or two to share. Being raised in a lab doesn't exactly lend itself to heartwarming Christmas stories. Or any Christmas stories...

Or any heartwarming stories, for that matter...

"Are you okay?" Mike asks, as if he can read her mind, squeezing her hand. She looks over at him, their eyes meeting, and a strange feeling blooming in her chest.

Normally she would answer yes, whether she was really okay or not. She would keep the problems inside of her to herself, afraid that her new friends might think she's just a hassle. That's how it always worked in the lab; having problems meant having more tests, and having more tests meant more needles and bad men.

But now, after finally getting to spend her whole day with Mike, just the way she wanted, she feels different, at least toward him. Mike always understands, always makes sure she feels safe, and comfortable, and happy.

That she feels loved, like no other person could ever be.

She remembers one of their conversations from earlier in the day, one that had followed, or really been a part of, Mike's explanation of the sex. After he'd gotten all flustered, in the adorable way that she loves so much, and she'd asked when people normally have the sex, he'd started talking about the future.

The way he talked, explaining what dating is, how people become boyfriend and girlfriend, getting engaged, and later getting married. It all seemed like he wasn't just talking _to_ her, he was talking _about_ her, about _them_. While he hadn't said it outright, she could feel it, Mike wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together. To share every happy moment, help each other through the tough times, and experience every new and amazing thing that comes their way.

And she feels the same way.

So when he asks her that question, she knows she can't just say that she's okay, because that wouldn't be fair to Mike. It wouldn't be fair to the person who had, even if he hadn't said it out loud, told her that she's the most important, special, precious person in his life. She wants to give him back that same faith, that same understanding that he showers her with every second they're together.

"No," She tells him quietly, whispering just loud enough for him to hear when he leans in close, nearly swallowed by the din of their companions. "But I will be."

She squeezes his hand and smiles, the most open and sincere smile she can give him, and tries to tell him everything she'd just thought with her eyes. Mike smiles back at her, the message as clear to him as if she'd spelled it out.

They spend the whole night eating, bantering, and celebrating with their friends. Presents are special for El's first Christmas, even if she couldn't actually get her friends anything, she made each of them a special card with arts and crafts supplies Hopper had gotten for her.

She gets inundated with new and used clothes, books in various conditions, a variety of new arts and crafts supplies, music, and even her first true makeup kit. Her favorite, however, comes from Mike.

He gifts her a radio set, top of the line with two walkie talkies. The signal is strong enough to reach all the way across Hawkins, and maybe even further, far stronger than the supercoms the boys all have. No wonder it cost such a small fortune, which Lucas and Dustin comment on when they see it.

"Now we can talk," He says sheepishly after she unwraps it. "Anywhere, anytime, whenever you want to talk."

"I love it," She responds, almost flooring him with another hug, the little puff balls on their hats bouncing as they collide. "It's perfect."

Hopper watches with a bemused expression while Mike shows her how it works, their friends gathering around them to marvel at the piece of technology. Joyce nudges him from their spot on the couch.

"Turning over a new leaf?" She asks, noticing his expression.

"Trying a different approach," He tells her. "And it's working pretty well."

He puts an arm around her shoulders as they watch the kids, not quite in a romantic way, neither of them are ready for that yet, but something neither of them will say no to, something comfortable. Each of them has a smile as the kids start to laugh and have fun with their new gifts, glad they can still be normal kids after everything.

Most importantly, they're glad that their group is still together. Even through every trial and hardship that came their way, none of them backed away, or tried to push it all off on someone else. They may have lost some along the way, but those unfortunate few will live in their hearts forever. No gift, no matter how big, or shiny, or expensive, can ever compare.

They can all, finally, be happy... together.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed it, thanks for reading!

If you have a prompt you want me to write, leave it in a review or send me a PM, I'm keeping a running list. I'll even take requests for connected one-shots, which one person has already sent me. The more the better, it keeps my creative juices flowing to have a bunch of projects going at once.

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2: First Date

Greetings and salutations!

Deepest apologies that this took so long to come out, I've had a lot of stuff to deal with in the outernet. I was planning to post some other stuff, but they kept turning out too similar to other stories I've read, and I'm avoiding that at all costs from now on. Along with writing for my other two running pieces, basic existence, and life in general, I haven't had as much time to write as I would like.

I probably made my beta really mad because I've been sending them things, then changing my mind and redoing them altogether, and repeating seven or eight times, so shout out to Writing Tired for putting up with me! They're planning an amazing story to come out soon, but I won't spoil anything about it(but it should be great for the D&D fans out there).

Onto the story! This one was requested by Supernova8812, and is the first of several one-shots that will be loosely connected to one another. They won't all come out in a row, but I'll mark them somehow once there's more than one.

Prompt: Mike and El have their first date, and Hopper doesn't like it

* * *

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" Hopper mutters as El practically runs to the front door of Mike's house. Before she can even knock or ring the bell, it flies open and the two kids just about tackle each other.

It doesn't last as long as the majority of their hugs, El turning to give him a last wave goodbye before they go inside. Hopper sighs and puts the car in drive, rumbling away from the cul de sac with a plan in his head. Rather than go back to the cabin, or even to his trailer closer to town, he heads into the center of Hawkins and parks outside the station. With only a glance at the door, he starts walking in the opposite direction

Per Hopper's requirements, Mike had written out, in painfully explicit detail, where they would be going that evening. Per Hopper's fatherly instinct, he still doesn't want his daughter going on dates with any boys. However, his daughter also happens to be telekinetic, which leads to a lot of broken windows when she throws a tantrum because she 'wants to go on a date'. In the end, she got what she wanted, and all Hopper gets is a cup of coffee and a hot sandwich from the diner across the street from Tony's Pizza, where Mike and El are going for dinner.

"Haven't seen you round here for a while," The waitress comments, filling his coffee up for the third time. "How ya been, Chief?"

"Pretty good, Rebecca, how about you?" He replies, tearing his eyes away from the pizza place. He's already on his fourth cup, and the kids haven't even shown up yet. At the very least, he'll be awake the entire time.

"George is still an ass, but Brenda's in the second grade now," She tells him with a smile, reaching into her apron and pulling out her wallet. She pulls out a small photo of a smiling little girl, setting the coffee pot down. "She's gotten all A's so far this year, gonna be smarter than her parents any day now."

"Smarter than her dad, that's for sure," Hopper chuckles, sipping his coffee. "I've got a kid now too, believe it or not."

"Oh really? Did big bad Hopper finally settle down again?" Rebecca teases.

"Adopted, actually," He corrects as he sets his mug down. "She'll be in high school this fall, but until then I'm homeschooling her."

"So that's why you're back here," Rebecca muses with a smirk, tucking the picture away, and putting her wallet back. "She's got a date tonight, doesn't she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hopper replies, sipping his coffee again.

"Mmhmm," Rebecca grunts, using the coffee pot to gesture across the street. "Then I guess you weren't waiting here for the two kids on the bike? And the curly haired one in the Hawkins P.D t-shirt _isn't_ your daughter?"

Hopper's head whips around so fast you can hear it crack, and Rebecca laughs as she walks away. Across the street he can finally see Mike and El, the former putting a chain around his bike at the rack out front. They both have big grins on their faces, and even from across the street he can see the sparkle in his daughter's eyes, taking in the wonder of everything she sees. He grumbles a little on the inside when they start holding hands, grumpily sipping his coffee.

"Hey Hop."

Hopper almost chokes on said coffee when Joyce sits down on the other side of the table, coughing enough that Rebecca brings a glass of water over for him, along with another coffee cup for Joyce. The two women wink at each other before Rebecca walks away.

"I see you came to spy," Joyce comments, taking a sip of her coffee to hide her smirk. Hopper sips some of the water when he finally stops choking.

"How the hell did you know where I'd be?" He asks when he can speak again.

"You're predictable, Hop," She answers simply. "Will told me that Mike and El were finally going on a date, which is apparently a secret from the rest of the boys. As soon as he said it, though, I knew you'd pull something like this."

Hopper grunts indignantly, but doesn't actually say anything.

"They're not even in high school yet, what do you think they're going to do?" She questions, setting her cup down.

"You know I don't want her to turn into one of _those_ girls in school," Hopper informs her. "She should be focusing on her studying, not on boys."

"I don't think she's in any danger of turning into one of _those_ girls, Hop," Joyce tells him. "She's catching up to her grade level faster than you can get new books for her, and her only interest in boys is in _Mike_. He's about as likely to be the reason she turns into one of _those_ girls as you are of winning a peace prize."

Hopper grumbles under his breath again, his gaze moving back across the street. Mike and El are at the counter, and El is looking at everything they have in the display. It vaguely occurs to him that El has never had pizza before.

"You're worried about nothing," Joyce says, following his gaze. "If those two don't end up married after college, I'll eat my leather jacket."

"Don't you put that curse on my house," Hopper warns.

"Turning into Shakespeare now, are we?" She teases. "Then how about 'to thine own self be true'. You _know_ that Mike's a good kid, he and El are smitten with each other, and he'd probably dig out his kidney with a spoon for her. Why keep pretending you don't like him?"

"It's a dad thing, you wouldn't understand," He replies defensively, sipping his coffee again, startled to find that he's already finished it.

"Mmhmm, keep telling yourself that, Hop," She says, sipping her coffee to hide another smirk, only half empty.

Across the street he can see El laughing at something Mike said, both still waiting for their pizza.

"Well, if it isn't _exactly_ who I'm looking for."

Both adults turn to see none other than Steve Harrington standing beside their table, and both could not be more confused.

"Steve?" Joyce questions, as if she can't see him standing there.

"The one and only," He responds, pulling over an extra chair. "I thought Mike was being paranoid that you were going to come spy on the date, but it turns out he was right after all."

"Mike sent you?" Hopper asks disbelievingly.

"He offered me five bucks to see if he was right. Lo and behold, he was," Steve answers, gesturing to the adults in front of him. "They're fourteen, Chief, or at least Mike is, no idea about El. As far as guys she _could_ be going out with, she struck the jackpot. He's the kind that gets embarrassed holding hands in public, let alone doing anything _else_."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion," Hopper comments, turning away pointedly to continue spying.

"Seriously Chief, if those two _don't_ end up getting married someday, I'll eat my bat," Steve tells him, getting up again. "Nails and all."

"What, not going to make yourself at home?" Hopper retorts as Steve puts his chair back where he got it from.

"I'm meeting someone here, actually," The teen replies with a smirk. "As much as I love our talks, I can see her coming. Maybe you want to spy on _my_ date instead?"

"Shove it up your ass, Harrington," Hopper growls, giving Steve the evil eye and getting a wink in return.

"Bye Steve," Joyce says much more politely.

If they cared to watch, they would have seen Steve walk outside just in time to meet his date, and then seen them walk off toward the movie theatre.

"Face it Hop, you're alone on this one," Joyce comments, sipping the last of her coffee and setting the cup down.

"Yeah, yeah," He grumbles, glancing away from spying for a moment. When he turns back he gets to see El give Mike a kiss on the cheek, and even from across the street they can tell that Mike turns bright red.

"Rebecca, more coffee over here!"

* * *

I hope you enjoyed!

I decided to focus more on the Hopper aspect of this since there are so many stories out there about Mike and El going on first dates, or dates in general, but I haven't found as many(none yet) that are from Hopper's point of view.

If you have a prompt you want me to write, leave it in a review or send me a PM, I'm keeping a running list.

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3: Phobia

It is I, the ghost of Wandering Paladin!

I've returned from beyond the grave just to give you this next chapter! (I'll have to go back after I post this and my other updates, but I'm sure I'll figure out how to escape again later) I had just a little bit of time to get some writing done recently, so I've finally posted that last chapter of Somewhere New that I know everyone was waiting for (with torches and pitchforks at this point, I'm sure). Please be patient, and rest assured that I _am_ still working on my stories, even if I'm not posting regularly.

Onto the story! This one was requested by Divine Justice, apparently because I like to focus on lots of psychological stuff. Kudos to you for noticing! Psychology and the mind are really interesting subjects, which I recommend to everyone who really wants to be an author. Getting into a character's head and understanding how little things would affect them, and how that would influence the story, is actually really fun to do.

For this one, we focus on El having, and dealing with, a number of phobias (one of my favorite things). This won't be going into great detail about how each phobia started and how they're dealing with all of them, but it will show how the phobia relates to El and some (hopefully) plausible reactions from everyone else.

Prompt: What is Eleven afraid of?

* * *

 **Ablutophobia-** Fear of Baths

"Alright kid, I think that's enough cleaning for today," Hopper announces once they sweep up the last pile from the floor. While the cabin isn't exactly great, the last few hours of cleaning have made it hospitable.

"What now?" El asks quietly as he ties the trash bag shut. Her fingers fidget nervously in the oversized sleeves of her stolen clothes.

"Now, you need to get cleaned up," Hopper tells her, fixing her with a look. "You're covered in dirt, and you stink."

El looks down at her hands, each of which has dirt practically caked on from her month in the woods, and dried slime is probably still somewhere on her face and under her fingernails. Getting clean again would be nice.

"Shower?" She asks tentatively.

"No dice, kid, my grandad never got one out here," Hopper answers with a sigh. "It's a wonder there's plumbing at all, he was a kook. Wait here, I'll fill up the tub for you, and try to find you some new clothes."

El doesn't quite seem to understand what he says, but still gingerly sits down on the couch to wait. For what must be the thousandth time, she reaches up to touch her hair, slightly longer now. She can't help but wonder what Mike would think about her hair. Mike always had nice hair, it looked soft, and she'd wanted to touch it more than once, but didn't want him to think she was weird.

Well, _weirder_...

"It's ready!" Hopper calls from the bathroom a few minutes later, jarring El from her thoughts. Still fidgeting with her sleeves, she goes to join him.

Her breath catches in her throat when she sees it, the tub full of water. It may not be the same as the one she's used to, or even the makeshift one the boys had put together, but it's still, unmistakably, a bath.

"I tried not to make it too hot, but it usually feels better when it's warmer," Hopper tells her, standing up from his spot by the bath. It's only then that he sees her deer-in-the-headlights expression. "What's wrong?"

"Bath..." She murmurs, her gaze fixed on the white tub.

It takes Hopper another few moments to make the connection; in his memory she'd been the one who asked them to build the sensory deprivation pool.

"This bath isn't like those ones," He assures her. "This one is just for getting clean. See, there's even this nice rubber duck here."

He reaches over to the sink counter where an old rubber duck sits, blowing the dust off of it. El's eyes flick away from the bath long enough to gingerly take the rubber duck from him.

"Stay?" She asks hopefully, still barely above a whisper.

Hopper's eyes widen a little at the idea, and he seems a little flustered when he finally comes up with an answer.

"I'm not sure that's a great idea," He says, averting his eyes. "You're a growing girl, you need to have your privacy."

Privacy, Mike had told her about privacy, at least a little bit. He'd turned red and started stuttering a little when he explained it, but it was nice. Privacy is when other people aren't supposed to be there, for something _personal_ that other people aren't supposed to know about, or see.

It has something to do with closing doors all the way, but El doesn't like that, it makes her nervous, just like the bath makes her nervous. Mike had offered to run her a bath, whatever that meant, to much the same effect as right now. Instead he'd shown her how the shower works, and helped her wipe her face with the nice soft cloths he'd brought her. She'd asked him to stay too, to which he'd turned red again and said that he couldn't, but he'd be right outside. He even left the door open a little, the way she preferred.

That had been at Mike's house, though, not here. The cabin is still new, still uncomfortable. Right now, she doesn't want _privacy_.

"Stay," She repeats, but not as a question.

With another sigh, this one defeated, Hopper relents. With instructions to put her dirty clothes in the basket by the sink and get in the water, he goes to grab a chair to sit by the bath. El nervously complies as he steps out, peeling off her layers one by one, taking a moment to look at the dress Mike had given her. The formerly pale pink garment is caked with dirt and grime, probably with other things best left unmentioned.

Hopper comes back with his chair while she studies it, standing in underwear that had once been Mike's, though he said he hadn't worn them for years, and the gray converse that had also been Mike's, and at one point probably been white.

"Come on, kid, time to get in," Hopper says, averting his eyes. Explaining privacy will definitely be high on the to do list for Eleven.

El removes the last of her garments, letting them fall into the basket with a mildly wistful look. She sets the sneakers to the side of the basket gingerly, as if they might disappear when she isn't wearing them. They may not be very nice anymore, but they're the first clothes that had ever been _hers_.

"Hold?" El asks, putting her hand out toward Hopper, who is forced to look toward her. He looks between her hand and her face before taking it, El squeezing it tightly as she finally steps into the water, pulling Hopper forward as she does.

"Don't forget your duck," Hopper reminds her, setting the duck in the water with her once she sits down. He then holds a washcloth out to her, a bit of body wash already on it for her to use. "Time to get clean."

El just stares at the cloth, unsure of how it works in the bath. The last time she used a cloth had been in the sink, in Mike's basement. Hopper rolls his eyes.

"Okay, fine, I'll help you get started," He tells her, still holding her hand. "Just lay back in the water for a few seconds, we need to loosen some of the dirt."

It takes El more than one than one try to lay back in the water, her grip getting tighter on Hopper's hand each time. On the last try her entire head goes under, and she comes up spluttering when water goes up her nose.

"Hey, I didn't say dunk your head under," Hopper chides, but awkwardly rubs her back for her, unsure of how to handle this situation. It's been a long time since he's had to use his fatherly knowledge.

"Sorry," She murmurs once she stops coughing, eyes down toward the water.

"It's fine, doesn't matter anyway," Hopper dismisses when she looks upset. "Let's just get you clean again."

With that he sets to work with the cloth, starting with her upper arms and shoulders that were mostly covered by clothing, and then getting her face for her once there's a nice lather on it. Once he's gotten all the parts he's willing to, he hands her the cloth to finish the rest.

By the end, El practically sparkles compared to how she'd been. Hopper gives her a nice fluffy towel to dry herself with, and then some incredibly oversized sweatpants, t-shirt, and flannel shirt to wear. The pants have to be rolled up for her feet to come through, and even after they tighten the string on the waistband, they almost fall when she walks around.

Still, El can finally say she has a good memory of a bath.

XxX

 **Rhabdophobia-** Fear of Being Punished or Severely Criticized

"Come on, kid, time to get up!" Hopper calls from the kitchen. He'd managed to sneak out to buy groceries, but El was still asleep when he got back. That had been fine while he was cooking, but now it's time to eat.

There's a quiet shuffle behind him, and when he turns to look, El is already standing there. He half jumps out of his skin, spilling some of the scrambled eggs from the pan onto the ground.

"Remind me to get you a bell," He mutters to himself, setting the pan down off the flame so he can clean up.

"A bell?" El questions, her head cocked to the side.

"Nevermind," Hopper tells her with a sigh. "It's nothing.

He glances over at her again once the mess is cleaned up, noting that he needs to find some clothes in her size. And to get her some new shoes, the converse on her feet are practically falling apart, and they'll probably start walking on their own if El doesn't give them a break to air out once in a while.

El just stands there, waiting patiently, while Hopper finishes making breakfast. She follows him over to the table and sits down in front of one of the plates, her face falling a little when she sees that there are no eggos.

"I'll buy some next time," Hopper says, realizing that he forgot to buy any eggos when he went out. "Eat up, we've got more to do today."

El lets out a small sigh before reaching for the sausage on her plate.

"Hey, use your cutlery," Hopper chides when he sees her table manners. "I'm not buying eggos for a wild child."

El sighs again, and adds in a pout, but picks up the fork. It doesn't feel natural in her hand, but she does her best to make it work. The eggs are cheesy and melty, and the sausages are nice and hot.

"Do you know where your plate goes when you're done?" Hopper asks once he notices her empty plate.

"Sink," El answers, pointing through her oversized sleeves.

"Good, go put your plate in the sink and wash your hands," He instructs, scraping together the last few morsels of his breakfast. El silently stands and picks up her plate to go to the sink.

 _CRASH!_

Hopper whips around so fast he almost falls out of his chair. On the ground in front of him is El, sprawled out forward, the front of her shoe caught on a loose floorboard. In front of her is a broken plate and her scattered cutlery.

The floor creaks as Hopper stands up, which makes El jump. She flips over, scrambling back away from Hopper when he tries to check on her, tears already streaming over her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She murmurs over and over, still trying to put distance between them. The sheer terror on her face is enough to make Hopper pause from following her, at least until she backs into the wall. Her pleading only gets worse when he walks toward her, and she tries to hide behind her knees.

Her breath catches when his arms wrap around her, drawing her in close despite how she tries to curl into a ball.

"It's just a plate, kid," He assures her. "I can get more, they're not important."

"You're n-not mad?" El sniffles timidly.

"No, I'm not mad," He answers, hugging her a little closer. "It was an accident. Accidents happen sometimes."

She stiffens in his embrace, still curled into the smallest possible ball she can manage. It takes Hopper a little longer to notice how she trembles in his arms, how it gets worse with every little shift he makes. She's absolutely terrified, of _him_ , even as he tries to comfort her.

It takes twenty minutes for El to slowly uncurl from her ball form, and another ten to get her to stand up. She still has a scared glint in her eye when she looks at Hopper, nervously shifting her feet.

"I'm not mad," He tells her again. "I won't get mad over little things like this, they don't matter so much."

"Promise?" El murmurs, trying her best to stand still again.

"I promise," He assures her, though he really has no idea just how much that word means to her. He has no idea how hard a promise it will be to keep.

XxX

 **Nyctophobia-** Fear of the Dark

 _She can see it through the trees, the one place she wants to go to above all..._

 _Mike's house._

 _The slime of the portal she'd come through is still wet on her skin, but it doesn't matter. The fact that there are more cars outside than normal doesn't matter. Nothing matters, except going back to her friends, to Mike._

 _El stumbles out of the woods toward the house, daring to look in through the window first before knocking on the door. All she wants is to see them, to know that they're all okay after everything that happened that night._

 _Her blood runs cold when she looks in._

 _Papa is standing there, in front of her friends. They're all on their knees, their hands being held behind them by something, and several other people stand around the room, dressed similarly to Papa. All of her friends are crying, and they can't help the glances to the side of the room, at something El can't see._

 _"Now that you've seen the consequences," Papa says, slowly walking in front of the four boys, even Will, still shaking from the Upside Down. "I'll ask one more time. Where. Is. Eleven?"_

 _"We don't know!" Lucas answers, his voice raw._

 _"She just disappeared!" Dustin exclaims, his voice not much better._

 _"She killed the Demogorgon and she vanished!" Mike cries, somehow seeming even more upset than the other boys. His glances are even more frequent than the others', and Will just sobs to himself._

 _One of the men around the room finally shifts, allowing El to see what they keep looking at. In the hall, just next to the stairs, seven bodies are unceremoniously stacked in a heap, one much smaller than the rest. El gasps at the sight, at the thing she'd feared most coming true._

 _"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Papa continues. "But Eleven isn't capable of mustering that much energy at once, not on her own. If it's true that she disappeared, that would mean that the creature took her to its home dimension, and she is most likely dead by now. We'll have a team attempt to locate her remains for study, but you needn't concern yourselves with that information."_

 _He pauses there, taking in the three terrified faces in front of him, as well as the haggard sobbing of one boy. Then, all at once, he turns on his heel to leave, snapping his fingers over his shoulder._

 _Four of the men around the room step forward, taking their guns out from under their coats. One by one they take aim at the boys on the floor, and one by one each of the boys lowers their heads._

 _Mike steals one last glance at the window, his eyes locking onto El's. She tries to call out, to scream his name, to use her powers, to just do something, anything, but nothing happens. Even standing and staring is almost too much for her, let alone anything else._

 _That last gaze is filled with accusation, with venom and disgust, for her and her entire existence. This is all her fault, none of it ever would have happened if she never came into their lives._

 _One by one each of the boys falls to the ground, and Mike spends his last moments showing her the purest form of hatred. Tears fall unbidden down her cheeks, her entire body numb._

 _It's only when she hears the growl behind her that she manages to move at all. She turns just in time to see row after row of teeth coming straight at her._

 _Then everything goes dark..._

El shoots up in her new bed with a scream, coated in a cold sweat, her pulse racing, and something warm spreading on the sheet. Every shadow seems to grow when she sees it, threatening to hide something inside of it. Her breathing starts to become frantic as her eyes dart around, the thump of boots echoing through her mind, gunshots ringing over them, and an otherworldly growl hiding underneath. That shadows hide it all, waiting for the moment to get her, to take her away again, or worse...

When the door opens again and Hopper bursts in, pistol in hand, she screams again. When he sees that the only one in the room is El, he breathes a sigh of relief, setting the gun down on the dresser by the door before walking over to the bed. As soon as he sits down on the edge El tries to hide against his chest.

"It's okay, kid, it was just a nightmare," He murmurs, hugging her and rubbing her back until she calms down. "Everything's the same as when you went to sleep, everyone is safe, you're safe."

For another few minutes El just cries, the fear slowly draining from her body.

"Alright, kid, come on," Hopper tells her once she finally sits up. "Get some different pajamas on, I'll get you a blanket for the couch."

"Stay?" El whimpers, her big brown doe eyes still glistening.

"I'll move my cot next to the couch, don't worry," He informs her, trying to show that it's all no big deal. "Now get up and get changed."

He turns the lamp on for her before leaving, chasing the shadows away and easing the tightness in her chest. She takes another minute to get up, listening the rustling sounds of Hopper moving things around on the other side of the door, which he'd closed halfway for her to change in _privacy_.

As she finds a new pair of pajamas to wear, she wishes she could still have the sweats that Mike gave her that first night. They'd been soft, and warm, and they fit her pretty well, and most of all they smelled like Mike. To her, Mike smells _safe_.

Hopper smells like cigarettes, old wood, and faintly of sweat. It's not that she thinks he smells _bad_ , though she doesn't like the scent of the cigarettes, his scent just doesn't have the same meaning to her. She still feels safe when she smells it, but not the same kind of safe. With Mike, safe means gentle, warm, soft, and all the other good things she can think of, like eggos and fun chairs. Mike smells like home. With Hopper, safe means just that, she's safe from people that want to hurt her, and her friends are safe from the same. Hopper's kind of safe is protection, but not always with the comfort and understanding that came with Mike.

Curling up on the couch, though, as Hopper lays the blanket over her, that part just might be changing. It still isn't the same kind of total security she felt with Mike, despite the danger they'd been in the entire time, but Hopper might just become a close second.

XxX

 **Autophobia/Monophobia/Isolophobia-** Fear of Being Alone

"Alright kid, I'm heading out," Hopper announces, grabbing his coat off the hook and swinging it on. "I'll be back sometime after seven for dinner, there's eggos in the freezer to eat for breakfast, and you should be able to manage a sandwich or something for lunch. Just don't go overboard on the filling."

As he turns to grab his hat he hears another quiet shuffle, this time prepared for El to have appeared behind him when he wasn't looking.

"Leaving?" She questions, holding the stuffed lion he'd bequeathed to her tightly against her chest. For a split second he can see his daughter, Sara, standing there on a Monday morning, just like today.

"I need to go to work," He answers, almost cracking a smile at the memory. "I'm a police officer, so I have to go to the police station to work."

"Alone..." El murmurs, looking down at her feet, finally free of the old converse shoes, which are currently airing out on the porch where she can't get to them.

Hopper sighs, this is what he'd been worried about. It's why he'd used up almost all of his vacation and sick days to stay at the cabin with her.

"I know, being alone isn't very nice," He says, lowering himself a little so he can look Eleven in the eye. "But you won't be all alone, you have your new friend, and you have the tv."

He gestures over at the big box with the antenna on top. He'd tried to show Eleven some sports games, but she hadn't seemed all that interested. Maybe today she'll find something she likes.

"How about this, I'll give you a project for today," He tells her, standing back up and leading her over to the couch. "You need to find three things on tv that you like to watch, and when I get home tonight, you'll tell me about them. Okay?"

"At seven-zero-zero?" El asks, still clutching the lion to her chest.

"Seven o'clock, yes," He assures her. "And if there's an emergency?"

"Radio," El responds, pointing at the radio set near the tv, already set to the channel to match the one in his office.

"Good job, you remembered," He says, ruffling her fuzzy hair a bit. "And what else are you supposed to remember?"

"Door, windows, inside," She replies, looking up at him expectantly.

"Right again," He congratulates. "I'll be back around seven, I promise. Don't be stupid while I'm gone, lock the door, and don't open it unless you hear the knock."

El nods, and with that Hopper leaves. The locks all click into place after a few moments, silently hoping that he might have forgotten something. When it's clear that she's alone until seven-zero-zero, El moves to examine the tv.

The bright colors and moving pictures will never cease to amaze her, just like they did at Mike's house. With a small tilt of her head, the channel changes, revealing a new set of colorful moving pictures.

One channel calls out to her when she lands on it, mainly because of how it sounds. There are people singing, and what might be dancing, though it's nothing like the dancing Hopper does. She'll definitely tell Hopper about this one.

Her next two finds are both about people, all of whom seem to be incredibly expressive, even when they're just drinking water. She may not understand much of what they're trying to do, but some of it makes her giggle.

When she looks at the clock on the radio again, the numbers read five-one-five, the same time she'd met the boys after school. A pang of loneliness shoots through her chest at the thought. What she wouldn't give just to _see_ them one more time.

With another sullen tilt of her head she changes the channel again, hitting a screen of static. The noise isn't particularly pleasant, but it's better than the silence from the rest of the cabin. Anything is better than being all alone in total silence, even her brief time in the Upside Down.

She closes her eyes, trying not to bring up bad memories again, clutching the lion to her chest. All she wants is to be with her friends again, to be with _Mike_ again. He'd been the first one who never tried to get her to do anything for him, which is probably why she'd actually _wanted_ to help him find Will. Even when Mike had been mad at her, he never did anything more than yell, and he'd apologized later. He still let her stay in his basement, in the fort he built for her out of blankets, even when he thought she lied to him.

 _"I said I'm fine!"_

El almost jumps out of her skin when she hears Mike's voice ring through her ears. She's about to open her eyes when she finally realizes where she is.

The Void.

This is the first time she's been here without the bath, though. That doesn't really matter to her much, however, when she sees Mike. He's holding something white up to his face as he stalks down the basement stairs. Without a moment's hesitation he crawls into the blanket fort, and El rushes over next to him.

They're so close they could touch, but El is too afraid to try. What if everything disappears when she touches him? That might be worse than having to leave the first time, to see it all vanish again.

 _"Hey, El,"_

She's jarred out of her panicked thoughts when Mike starts to speak, holding the Supercom up to his mouth. For a single glorious moment El is convinced that Mike can see her too, and she starts to reach out to him.

 _"I'm not sure you can even hear these messages, wherever you are,"_

El freezes, the crushing weight of truth stopping her from moving at all. Tears prick the backs of her eyes, but she fights them away. Nothing is going to get in the way of her _seeing_ Mike again.

 _"Troy's back to being a mouth breather again,"_ Mike continues, completely unaware that El can hear him. _"He and James pantsed Dustin and Will during gym today, the entire class laughed at them. I stood up to him, though, just like you would have. Fat lot of good it did me, but it felt good, at least until he punched my face in and gave me a black eye."_

El's breath hitches when he takes the white thing away from his face, revealing his bruised and swollen cheek and darkening black eye. The white thing turns out to be a bag of frozen peas.

 _"I miss you, El, so much,"_ He murmurs into the walkie talkie. _"I just can't let myself believe that you're gone. I can feel it, I don't know how but I can, you're out there somewhere. If you get any of my messages, please send me some kind of sign. I won't even respond, incase it's too dangerous for you, just let me know that you're out there."_ He pauses, holding his breath while he waits. El wishes with all she has that she could say something through the Supercom, but she just doesn't know how. _"Well, I guess you can't hear me today. Don't worry though, I'll keep calling, every night. I don't care if it takes weeks, or months, or even years, I won't stop until I know that you're okay."_

It breaks El's heart to hear those words come out of his mouth. He wants exactly the same thing she does, for them to see each other again, and he's prepared to wait for the rest of his life for her.

That's the final straw for her, losing her grip on her powers. The image around her fades away, and she can hear the static of the tv again. Her lip is wet with blood, and her cheeks are wet with tears.

Maybe it would have been better to just have the silence...

XxX

 **Iatrophobia-** Fear of Doctors

"There's nothing to be scared of here, El," Hopper assures her. "You just need to get a routine physical. Everybody gets them."

El nods, trying not to grip her overalls too tightly. The waiting room smells eerily similar to the testing rooms in the lab, and it's bringing up a lot of bad memories. She tenses when a door open off to the side.

"Jane Hopper?" A nurse asks from the doorway. "Dr. Goodman will see you now."

"Alright, let's get this over with," Hopper tells her, standing up and waiting for her to do the same.

El wrings her hands as she follows Hopper and the nurse to a room. The walls have posters of different bodily systems, but that doesn't really ease El's anxiety.

"Doctor Goodman will be right in," The nurse says with a smile, setting a clipboard on the counter and closing the door behind her as she steps out.

"There's nothing to worry about, kid, the doc does this stuff everyday," Hopper tries to assure her, but El's focus is elsewhere. "We'll be done in twenty minutes, and then you can have as many eggos as you want."

"Can Mike come over?" She asks quietly, still wringing her hands.

Hopper sighs. He knew they'd get to this part eventually, he'd just hoped it would be in the on the way home.

"Please?" She adds, finally looking up at him.

Hopper's argument dies in his throat; there's no way he can say no when she has that look in her eyes, no matter how much he hates Mike and El being attached at the hip all the time.

"Fine, Mike can come over," He relents. "But he's not sleeping over."

Even he knew that last part wasn't true. El would beg and plead for Mike to stay the night, just like every other time.

The door opens once again, drawing their attention as the doctor walks in. He's not particularly tall or short, and he has some gray showing in his dark brown hair. There's a stethoscope around his neck and a white coat around his shoulders, the sight of which makes El tense up again.

"Mr. Hopper, Jane, it's nice to meet the two of you," He greets politely, shaking Hopper's hand and smiling at El, who avoids looking him in the eye. "I'm sure you've guessed, but I'm Doctor Goodman."

"Good to meet you too," Hopper responds, gently laying his free hand on El's shoulder before she has a panic attack.

"Alright, since this is your first physical, I just have a few questions to ask before we begin," The doctor says, picking up the clipboard the nurse had left. "Now, these are all standard questions, so just answer them honestly. Do you smoke, drink alcohol, or use any drugs?"

El's mouth opens, but no sound comes out of it, so she just shakes her head.

"Ah, a shy one. That's alright, you don't have to talk if you don't want to," The doctor observes, noting something on the clipboard. "Have you had your first period yet?"

El doesn't seem to understand the question, looking nervously at Hopper.

"No, she hasn't," Hopper answers for her. "And obviously her mother hasn't had that chat with her yet."

"Oh, no bother there, but we do recommend having those talks before your children enter high school," Dr. Goodman replies. "Speaking of which, are you sexually active yet?"

El once again looks to Hopper for assistance, who just squeezes her shoulder.

"One boyfriend, no sexual activity," He says, directed at both others in the room.

"Understood," The man accepts. "Now, are you getting a variety of food groups in your diet each day? And getting plenty of exercise during the week?"

El purses her lips, unsure of how to answer that without saying words.

"We're working on her diet," Hopper informs him. "And she's always running around with her friends during the week."

"Very good," Dr. Goodman says, writing the last few things on the clipboard. "Alright, now we can move on to the actual exam. Jane, if you could remove your outer clothes, we'll get your height and weight done."

He turns away to give some privacy, flipping through pages on the clipboard and making a few additional notes.

Meanwhile, El's eyes have widened in terror, and it seems like she's about to start hyperventilating. Hopper opens his mouth to say something, but then he feels the room start to shake.

"Is that an earthquake?" Dr. Goodman questions as all the loose objects in the room start to shake.

Once again Hopper goes to say something, noticing the blood starting to trickle from El's nose, but then one of the cupboards opens, a plastic container of tongue depressors falling onto the floor and spilling. El takes the distraction as her chance to flee the room. The shaking stops just after.

"Oh, I guess she got spooked," Dr. Goodman comments, looking out the open door as if she'll reappear at any second.

"Sorry to waste your time, Dr. Goodman," Hopper apologizes, inching toward the door. "I just don't think this kind of setting is good for her just yet. Would you be able to recommend someone for kids?"

"Oh, of course," He says, taking out his prescription pad, crossing out the front, and scribbling something on the back. "I'll have this information sent over."

"Thank you!" Hopper calls back, already out the door after the doctor gives him the note. It's not hard to follow the trail of blood drops and concerned looks out to the parking lot, at which point the Blazer is the most likely place.

He finds her sitting in front of the truck, knees hugged to her chest with her head resting on top of them, her shoulders moving just slightly as she cries. There's a small pile of vomit a few feet away.

Hopper sits down next to her, gently putting his arm around her.

"It's alright kid, nothing's gonna get you while I'm around," He tells her. "Next time we'll go to a kid's doctor, they're a lot less...lab."

He fumbles with some of the words, El's tears not lessening at all. Hopper sighs, knowing in spite of himself what will make her feel better.

"Come on, let's go," He says, standing up again and holding a hand out to his daughter. "I bet Mike's having far too peaceful a day anyway."

That gets her to look up at least, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Mike?" She murmurs, wiping her cheeks.

"Yes, Mike," Hopper answers, fighting the urge to grit his teeth. "He can even spend the night."

Even if it causes Hopper actual pain to do it, El finally takes his hand and slowly stands up. He helps her get into the truck and buckle up before doing the same.

As they rumble out of the parking lot, El murmurs something else that Hopper doesn't quite catch.

"What was that?" He questions, leaning a little closer, though his eyes never leave the road.

"Can Mike come?" She repeats, which Hopper raises an eyebrow to.

"We're going to see Mike now," He says, but El shakes her head.

"Not now, next time," She responds quietly. "To the doctor."

The blood in Hopper's veins chills at the thought; his daughter getting a physical with a teenage boy in the room. What monster has he let grow?

XxX

 **Belonephobia-** Fear of Needles

"And if I catch you looking anywhere you shouldn't be," Hopper threatens, for the ninth time since they picked Mike up.

"I won't!" Mike says defensively, wondering why he even agreed when Hopper asked him to come along. "I've only said it a dozen times now."

"You better watch that mouth of yours, or I'll drop you on the side of the road and you can walk back," Hopper retorts.

Mike opens his mouth to fire back again, but El squeezes his hand, immediately getting his full attention. Oh right, that's the reason Mike had agreed.

"What, cat got your tongue?" Hopper continues, until El shoots him a look that he can feel without even seeing it.

"Fine." He mutters, going back to just driving.

El leans her head on Mike's shoulder for the remainder of the trip, which doesn't go unnoticed by Hopper, though he doesn't comment. When they finally reach the doctor's office, a small building near a little lake, a family of ducks floats by and quacks at them.

Mike helps El out of the Blazer, even though she doesn't really need it, and they continue holding hands all the way inside. Hopper keeps his growls on the inside as they walk up to the reception desk.

"Hello, name please?" The nurse at the desk asks.

"Hopper, here for Jane," Hopper answers.

"Ah, yes, for two thirty," She says, checking a written roster. "You and Jane can follow me to room C."

"About that, could I have a private word with you?" Hopper inquires before she can stand all the way up. The woman seems a bit confused, but nods, gesturing to the side door to the office. She lets Hopper in and closes the door, at which point Mike decides it would be best to wait somewhere else.

"Do you want to look at the fish?" He asks, pointing to the big glass tank on the far side of the waiting room.

El seems transfixed by it, watching each of the colorful little creatures dart around in ways only they could understand. There are a few other people in the waiting room, but none of them pay any attention to the two teens after they walk past.

"Jane, Michael."

They're shaken from their trance when the nurse says their name. She smiles at them, and they can see Hopper looking annoyed on the other side of the room.

"Room C, please," She tells them, gesturing to the wooden door with the big plastic letter on it.

El's grip tightens as they walk, so Mike rubs the back of her hand with his thumb. This is definitely why he agreed to come.

"Now, I assume your answers to the questions haven't drastically changed since two weeks ago, so we can skip over those," The nurse says as she closes the door, picking up the clipboard. "We just need to get your height and weight, and read your vitals before Dr. McNamara gives you your physical."

El nods, but doesn't move. The nurse smiles again, letting out a little half chuckle.

"You'll need to remove your outer clothes so we can get an accurate weight," She informs the girl, who tenses once again.

"It'll be okay," Mike whispers, so only she can hear him, and then returns to a normal volume. "I'm here for you."

Hopper clears his throat when Mike says that. Without turning to look at the older man, Mike rolls his eyes, which makes El smile. He squeezes her hand one more time before going to stand in the corner of the room, facing the wall.

El takes a deep breath, still feeling the lingering presence of Mike's hand on her own. This isn't the lab, the bad men aren't here.

"Not the lab," She murmurs to herself, and then unbuttons her overalls.

She leaves her clothes in a relatively neat pile on the exam table, the paper crinkling underneath them. She shivers a little when she steps on the scale, the metal cold beneath her feet.

"Alright, now let's get your height. Just stand up against the door, feet against the bottom," The nurse says once she gets the scale levelled. El does as asked, again with a hearty amount of trepidation, but she keeps looking over at Mike in the corner. "Perfect. See, nothing to worry about."

El lets out a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding.

"Now, if you could just hop up on the table, we'll do a few quick tests," The nurse continues, and El tenses at the word 'tests'.

She looks over at Hopper, who smiles as encouragingly as he can, and then at Mike. Her boyfriend holds his hand up in a strange way, but for some reason it makes her feel better. El gets up on the exam table, the paper crinkling loudly as she sits on it.

"This is a blood pressure cuff," The nurse explains, holding the device up. "Once I put it on your arm, I'm going to inflate it, and that will let me know what your blood pressure is. You might feel a bit of a pinch, but that's completely normal."

El nods, nervously holding her arm out. True to the nurse's word, there's a pinching sensation once the cuff is fully inflated, but it only lasts for a few seconds. She lets out another pent up breath.

"You're doing really well, Jane," The nurse assures her. "I'm going to tell Dr. McNamara that you're ready to go, and she'll finish up the examination for you."

El perks up at the word 'she'. This doctor is a she.

The nurse leaves, closing the door behind her.

"See, not so scary, is it?" Hopper question, but El doesn't say anything. Her mind is focused on that thing Mike had been doing with his hand.

When the door opens again, a woman wearing a white coat and a stethoscope walks in, smiling at El and Hopper as she picks up the clipboard. If she questions Mike's presence in the corner, she doesn't say anything.

"Good afternoon, everyone," She greets, scanning over the pages. "Let's get these last few tests finished up now, why don't we?"

El nods absentmindedly, until she sees a strange implement in the doctor's hand.

"This is to check your reflexes," She explains. "I'm going to give your knee a few taps, and your leg should kick out."

The girl seems suspicious, holding her breath again, but doesn't protest. She seems a bit surprised when her leg jumps out without her telling it to, but she gets it under control pretty quickly.

"Now we'll take a look inside your ears," Dr. McNamara says, taking out a new instrument. "Just turn your head a bit." El hesitantly complies. "Good, now the other way."

"Great job, Jane, we're almost done," The doctor tells her, taking out a wooden tongue depressor and a light. "Now I just need you to go ah for me. This will only take a second."

El doesn't quite seem comfortable having the tongue depressor in her mouth, gripping the edge of the cushion on the exam table tightly. It ends without incident though.

"Last thing now. This might feel a little cold," The woman informs her, gently touching the stethoscope to El's chest and putting the other end in her ears. "Now just sit up straight, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly." El does so, puffing up her chest with imaginary confidence. "Alright, now the same thing again." The doctor moves the end of the stethoscope to El's back, between her shoulder blades, and El breathes in and out again. "Good, now, last one." She moves the metal piece further down, and once again El breathes deeply, in and out.

"Perfect, we're all done with the tests," Dr. McNamara announces, taking the stethoscope out of her ears. "I hope that wasn't too terrible, was it?"

El silently shakes her head, to which the doctor smiles again.

"Alright, you can put your clothes back on, Jane," She informs the girl, which gets El to finally smile. "You're a very healthy young woman, Jane, you should be proud. You're five foot two, and about a hundred pounds, so you're just a little underweight, but only by a few pounds. You're blood pressure, reflexes, and respiration are normal. All in all, very impressive for never having been to see a doctor before."

El blushes a bit at the praise, pulling her overalls back on and fastening them.

"So, are we good to go, doc?" Hopper questions, knowing full well that El is reaching the end of her ability to stay at the doctor's office.

"Well, there are a few vaccinations that Jane is behind on getting, according to the records from Dr. Goodman, and this Dr...Owens, was it?" The woman replies, looking through other pages on the clipboard. Hopper hides his surprise that Owens had sent along actual medical records, filing it away for later. "There are three that we should catch up, and then everything is squared away."

El looks absolutely terrified at the thought of getting shots, her skin going pale and her body swaying a little side to side. If the table wasn't right beside her, she'd probably fall right over.

"We can try, I guess," Hopper says. "But I'm not sure we'll get through three."

The doctor just smiles again, leaving the clipboard behind as she exits the room. Mike takes the cue to finally leave the corner, taking his place at El's side and helping her onto the exam table again so she can sit. With the added height of the table, they're about face to face now.

"The shots aren't so bad," Mike tries to assure her. "My mom makes us get every vaccine in existence, even the optional ones."

"I don't like shots," El murmurs, trying to hide herself in the crook of Mike's neck. Mike wraps his arms around her comfortingly, at least until the door opens again and they have to sit up. The nurse walks in with a little plastic basket holding three different syringes.

"Alright, let's get these out of the way," She says, setting the basket down next to El, who seems like she might throw up at the sight of them. "I just need to roll up your sleeve."

El nods absently, her eyes fixed on the needles, as if they're going to come to life and attack her. Mike taps her a few times before she finally manages to tear her eyes away.

"Just look at me," He tells her. "It's always worse when you focus on it, so just focus on me instead."

El nods, but flinches when the nurse rubs something over her upper arm.

"Just cleaning the area before we start," She says. "Michael's right though, try to distract yourself."

"Did you start on the summer reading book yet?" Mike asks, drawing her attention back. "We were talking about it last Friday after Hopper picked you up. To Kill A Mockingbird is definitely one of the better books we've had to read, I just wish it was written in more plain english."

El only half flinches when the needle goes into her arm, and she keeps her eyes locked on Mike instead of looking down at it. Her fingers, however, turn white as she clenches the edge of the exam table.

"Dustin thinks that the title is kind of dumb since there's no mockingbirds in it at all, but he's just missing the point about what it's supposed to mean," Mike continues, trying to keep words coming out of his mouth. "And Max keeps saying that the teacher should be a stronger character than she is, but the teacher hasn't even come up much in what I've read so far, so I can't really say."

It's down to a wince when the the second shot goes in, and El's fingers let a little color back into them, but El still looks pale despite Mike's efforts to spew conversation. El decides to correct that, however, wordlessly pulling Mike forward, with a little telekinetic help, and pressing their lips together.

She doesn't even feel the third shot at all, her free arm moving up to touch Mike's cheek, and then rest on his shoulder.

Mike, however, feels Hopper's glare burning into him the moment his lips touch El's, but he can't really be bothered to care until they break apart. It was definitely worth coming to help today, just for that.

"There you go, all set," The nurse declares, smiling at the two teens. "We'll see you a year from now."

Hopper at least hides his seething anger until they're in the parking lot, even pausing so El can take a lollipop, rounding his glare on Mike before they're even in the car.

"I didn't do it, I swear!" Mike says desperately, hoping he gets to survive until dinnertime. His mom is making pot roast tonight.

"Get in the car," Hopper growls, angrily pulling the driver's side door open.

El slides into the car first, sitting between the two of them again. As Hopper manages to angrily put the car in reverse, Mike and El watch the little duck family swimming across the pond.

"Mike," El starts, taking the lollipop out of her mouth. "What was that thing you were doing with your hand before?"

The question peaks Hopper's interest as well, though for a different reason.

"Oh, that was just..." Mike replies, but his words turn into a quiet mumble.

"Sorry, what was that?" Hopper questions, a razor edge in his voice.

"It was the sign for I Love You," Mike answers again, this time clearly, his face turning red as a tomato as he looks down at his shoes. "It was just sign language."

"Thanks Mike," El tells him, leaning her head on him again, and then whispers just loud enough for Mike to hear. "I love you too."

While neither of the kids see it, Hopper sighs, most of his anger evaporating. It's becoming too much of a chore to be mad at the two of them.

They don't need to know that though, not yet...

XxX

 **Claustrophobia-** Fear of Small Spaces

"We'll be back in a few minutes," Max tells the boys, getting up and hauling El with her. The boys all seem confused for a few seconds, as does El.

"Where are we going?" The psychic girl asks.

"You've been fidgeting for the last fifteen minutes cause you need to pee," Max responds. "But you didn't want to let Mike's hand get cold, so I just made the decision for you."

"That's not-" El tries to defend herself.

"Don't even try, El," Max cuts her off. "As your only, and therefore best, female friend, I need to read your mind."

"I thought you didn't have powers though," El says, more confused than before.

"It's a figure of speech," Max sighs. "It means I need to know what you need and what you're thinking even if you don't tell me. Mike tries to do the same thing, he's just too busy making goo goo eyes to do it nearly as well as I do."

El's brow furrows as she tries to piece that information together, at which point they finally reach the bathroom Max was dragging her to. Everything almost goes perfectly, until El sees how small the stalls are.

She stops dead in her tracks, her eyes going as wide as dinner plates. Max is quick to pick up on it, trying to turn El away from the stall so she can talk.

"El," She says, resorting to covering the girl's eyes. "El, you have to tell me what's wrong so I can help. The whole mind reading thing is just a figure of speech."

"Small," El murmurs, finally turning away when she can't see the stall anymore.

"All the stalls are small, that's how they were built," Max explains. "There's nothing dangerous about them."

"Don't like small," El insists, trying to make Max understand. "Small is dark...alone..."

She shivers at the end of her half sentence, trying not to let bad memories come back to haunt her.

"You're not alone El, I'm right here," Max tells her, awkwardly trying to comfort her. Normally this is Mike's department, mainly cause he won't let anyone else.

"You'll stay?" El questions, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, though there are tears threatening to spill over.

"I'll stand right outside the door, okay?" Max promises. "See the gap on the bottom? You can see that I'll be right here."

"Promise?" El asks, holding out her pinky.

"Promise," Max assures her, shaking pinkies.

El takes a deep breath, and then slowly steps into the stall. The door slowly creaks closed, and Max sets herself right next to it.

"I'm right here, El, nothing to worry about," Max says, as reassuring as possible.

El doesn't respond, but Max can hear another few deep breaths, as well as the sound of tearing toilet paper. A minute or two later there's a flush, and El leaves the stall as quickly as possible.

"See, that wasn't impossible, was it?" Max questions. "One step at a time and then it won't be scary anymore."

El still seems a bit shaken, but less so than before. She goes to hug Max, but the redhead holds up her hands.

"Wash your hands first," She insists. "You should always wash your hands after you use the bathroom, especially if it's a public bathroom."

El nods, going to the sink. She still seems a bit lost, but lucky for her, Max also wants to wash her hands. She just copies what Max does, and then they're done.

"Thank you," El says, giving Max her hug.

"Don't worry about it," Max tells her. "This is what friends are for."

When the hug ends they just smile at each other for a few seconds.

"We should go back," Max suggests once the moment ends. "Mike's hand is probably cold, and we wouldn't want him catching a cold because of it."

"Of course not," El agrees, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "And you wouldn't want Lucas to catch one either."

Max seems both mock offended at the accusation, and incredibly happy that El just used a longer sentence with her. Normally those are just for Mike and Hopper, or when she's mad about something.

"I don't know what you're talking about," The redhead says, dancing around El to leave the bathroom first.

El giggles a little, rushing to catch up with her friend, because Max _is_ her friend. Maybe not for as long, but just as strong.

XxX

 **Thanatophobia-** Fear of death

 _Red lightning flashes through the sky, throwing an angry glare upon the ruined landscape. Particles float in the air like ash, choking her lungs from the inside, turning her breath into wheezing gasps. In the distance is a roar, otherworldly and terrifying, the sound of a monster._

 _At first there's nothing around her, not even the broken remains of buildings where she'd tried to hide from the monster. There's nowhere left for her to run, even if she could find the strength to take another step forward._

 _Another flash of crimson lightning reveals a circle of people, all familiar faces, standing around her. She almost loses her balance in surprise, a blossom of hope blooming in her chest._

 _It dies almost immediately when she takes a closer look at them. Their skin is pale, almost translucent, revealing black veins underneath. Their eyes seem to be filled with smoke, and the same seems to hover around them like a cloud._

 _"Why did you leave us, Eleven?" Lucas asks, his head falling limply to the side, his headband dyed almost black._

 _"You could have stopped it," Dustin says, his hat missing, and part of his face covered in dried blood._

 _"It came looking for you," Nancy tells her, pitch black veins bulging on her neck, the snapped butt of a rifle held loosely in her hand._

 _"We needed you, Eleven, but you ran," Max sneers, nothing but hatred and disdain in her smokey eyes._

 _"We tried to fight it," Steve says, holding the splintered handle of a bat in one hand, the other hanging limply by his side, the sleeve of his jacket torn to shreds._

 _"There was nothing we could do on our own," Jonathan tells her, his face almost hidden behind a sheet of dried blood, only the darkest veins showing through it._

 _"There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide," Will sneers, both of his eyes forced closed for some reason, though something black seems to be leaking from them._

 _"Why did you run away, Eleven?" Joyce questions, her once motherly gaze burning with hatred, for the girl's entire existence._

 _"You left us to die," Hopper accuses, both of his arms hanging limply beside him, something dripping from both of them. She can't see much of his face, but something doesn't seem right about it._

 _"I thought you cared about us, Eleven. About me," Mike says, his words stabbing into El more than any of the others. His eyes, once so filled with love and admiration for her, hold nothing but bitter hatred and burning rage. "I guess I was wrong. We all were."_

 _El's remaining strength flees her body all at once, and she falls to her knees, barely catching herself on her hands before her face can slam into the ground._

 _"We're dead because of you, Eleven," They all say at once, sounding like they're getting closer. "We're dead because of you!"_

 _They echo that same line, louder and louder each time. Soon they no longer sync with each other, their shouts turning into a storm of sound, filled with nothing but anger and hatred. Each word falls like a hammer on her mind, and cuts into her body like a knife. When she looks up, the circle is almost on top of her. Every person she cared about, screaming right in her face, it's too much._

 _Then, one by one, each one bursts into a cloud of black smoke, starting to swirl around her like a hurricane. Mike is the last one, almost exactly the same as normal, except his eyes. She tries to reach out for him, one last time, but he turns away, bursting into smoke as well._

 _El's hand falls to the ground, tears streaming onto the ground, every shield and barrier she'd ever made crumbling and breaking all at once. She has nothing..._

 _Then she hears the roar again, right on top of her. She looks up just in time to see a massive cloud of black smoke coming at her through the vortex-_

She jolts up with a scream, her clothes drenched in sweat, bordering on hyperventilation. The darkness around her seems to move, swirling just like in her dream, coming for her.

When she feels something actually move next to her, making some sound that doesn't register past the blood rushing in her ears, and then reach out and touch her, she screams again, trying to push whatever it is away. On reflex she pushes out with her mind, sending whatever it is crashing into the wall.

The light flashes on in the room, burning the darkness away in an instant. Joyce stands in the doorway with an axe in her hands, Jonathan just behind her holding a revolver. Around the room everyone is scrambling out of their sleeping bags, or in Will's case his sheets.

"What's wrong, sweetie, what happened?" Joyce asks, dropping the axe on the floor and quickly kneeling beside the terrified girl.

It takes another few seconds for El to register that she isn't in any danger. The other kids wait a few feet back, just as concerned but not wanting to crowd her right after she had a nightmare. El carefully makes sure that each of them is still really there, afraid of them bursting into smoke.

"Where's Mike?" She asks, her eyes going wide as she tries to find him. He was right beside her when they went to sleep, but Joyce would be kneeling on him if he were still there.

"Here..." Mike groans from beside the wall, struggling to slowly sit up. Jonathan puts the revolver down in the hallway before going to help the boy up.

"Mike!" El gasps in horror, hands flying to her mouth, her actions from just moments before coming back to her. Mike had been trying to help her, and she threw him against a wall. She looks down at her hands like they're covered in blood, though to her, they may as well be for what just happened.

"Shh, just calm down sweetie," Joyce says, bringing the girl closer. "Mike's going to be fine, and you didn't mean to do it."

"Hey, Mike, can you look at me?" Jonathan asks. Mike does his best to focus on the elder Byers child. "Now I just want you to look right at my finger. I'm gonna move it around, and you just follow it."

The room is silent as they wait for Jonathan to be done, nobody daring to make any kind of noise.

"Hey Will, do you still have that keychain flashlight that uncle George gave you?" Jonathan asks, turning around to look at his brother.

It takes Will a second to register the words, but then he scrambles to his bedside table, quickly going through the first two drawers until he pulls out a small flashlight, complete with a bottle opener. Jonathan takes it back over to Mike.

"This is going to be bright, but I just want to check how your eyes are doing," Jonathan tells him, to which Mike just nods.

The teen clicks the light on, shining in one eye and then the other, and then double checking to be sure. When he's done he passes it back to his brother.

"Last thing, okay Mike?" Jonathan continues, getting another slow nod. "I need you to touch each of your fingertips to your thumbs."

Jonathan keeps careful watch as Mike attempts to complete the task. When he finishes he just groans, and Jonathan turns back to the group.

"He's got a concussion," He reports, which does nothing to calm El down. "He should either go to the emergency room or we can take him to the doctor's in the morning, but he can't go back to sleep."

"I'll call his parents, see what they want us to do," Joyce says, giving El one last reassuring squeeze before getting up. She picks up the axe and the revolver on her way out.

The room stays silent a few moments longer, until El starts to cry. This time it's Max pulling her closer.

"Hey, don't cry, everything's going to be fine," She assures her friend. "I've had a few concussions. They're not fun, but they aren't permanent. His head will hurt for a few days, maybe a few weeks, but it'll get better."

"I'm a monster," El manages to say through her tears.

"El, no, this was an accident," Lucas insists. "You thought you were in danger, it wasn't on purpose."

"Not a monster..." Mike manages to groan through gritted teeth, getting El's full attention almost immediately. "Accident..."

"Oh my god, El, he's speaking just like you used to," Dustin comments. "Maybe you knocked some psychic powers into his head."

Max and Lucas roll their eyes at him, but El laughs just a little bit.

"You know, El, there is one good thing you can get out of this," Max says suddenly, a devious glint in her eye. She leans in close and whispers in El's ear.

The tips of El's ears turn red, but she nods.

"What did you just tell her?" Dustin asks hesitantly.

"Oh, nothing," Max answers cryptically.

They're spared from further questioning as Joyce comes back, getting all but one set of eyes in the room on her.

"We're gonna take Mike to the emergency room to get checked out, and Nancy says she and her mom will meet us there," She says. "Jonathan, you're in charge while I'm gone. El, I know Hopper says you're not supposed to come, but _I_ know if I don't bring you that you'll come anyway, so put your shoes on. I just need one more person to help me get Mike in and out of the car."

"I'll go," Will volunteers, before any of the others can say anything.

Once they're all dressed, and have some extra clothes for Mike, they do their best to help guide him into the car. He can walk, but he stumbles every so often, so he can't walk on his own. Will and El sit on either side of him in the back seat and try to stop him from falling asleep again. El practically radiates concern, holding Mike's left hand in both hers like it's a lifeline. Every time Mike groans she tenses, which doesn't go unnoticed by Will.

Getting Mike into the waiting room at the ER is more challenging since the two of them are both smaller than him, but they insist that Joyce doesn't need to help them. While they get Mike into a chair, Joyce speaks with the nurse at the counter. A few minutes later a male nurse comes in with a wheelchair, transferring Mike into it much easier than any of the three could do, physically at least.

Will and El aren't allowed to follow them to the exam room, waiting in nervous anticipation in the ER lobby. By the time the doctor on call checks Mike out and gives him an official diagnosis of a severe concussion, Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler have arrived. The nurse at the desk directs Mrs. Wheeler to the room they brought Mike to, though Nancy also has to stay in the lobby.

The official story is that Mike went outside to get some air in the middle of the night and slipped on the stairs, which is much more believable than his girlfriend telekinetically slamming him into a wall because she thought he was a shadow monster coming to kill her and everyone she loves.

After the doctor is finished, the three of them are allowed to go to see Mike. They crowd into the room just as the doctor is explaining what's going to happen, El immediately taking a spot at Mike's bedside. Will manages to get her to sit in a chair, but their attention isn't really on each other.

"Since his concussion is relatively severe, I'd like to keep him here until tomorrow morning, possibly the afternoon, in case there are any changes," the doctor explains. "When the immediate swelling goes down, he'll be fine to leave. Once he's home he'll need to get plenty of water, and plenty of rest. It's just important that someone wake him every four hours, ask him a simple question, get him to move around a bit, that sort of thing."

"And what about the pain?" Nancy asks, seeing the grimace on her brother's face.

"I'll be prescribing something for him to take, but until the swelling goes down he shouldn't take any medications," He continues. "After the prescription, over the counter products should work fine. I recommend acetaminophen over NSAID pain relievers, which would be something like Tylenol over Aspirin, because there's less risk of bleeding."

"Thank you so much, doctor," Mrs. Wheeler says, glancing over her shoulder again to check on her son.

"You're welcome," He responds with a smile. He offers a short handshake to both mothers. "If you have any more questions, just have the nurse page for me, I'm on call until six."

With that he leaves the group alone, and all attention goes to Mike.

"How do you feel Mike?" His mother asks, pulling over a chair on the opposite side from El. She attempts to move some of his messy hair away from his face, but it just springs back into place.

"Like my head got hit by a train," He groans, finally awake enough to respond.

It takes all of El's willpower not to burst into tears, her lower lip trembling. Will puts a gentle hand on her shoulder, though she barely seems to notice.

"Just think, you won't have to do any of your homework for a while," Nancy tells him, which at least gets the corners of his mouth to turn up a bit.

"Karen, can I talk to you a minute?" Mrs. Byers asks, pulling Mrs. Wheeler's attention away from her son.

"What?" She asks, confused for a moment by the request. "Oh, of course."

She gives her son's shoulder a squeeze before following Mrs. Byers into the hallway, two sets of eyes following them as they leave.

"I'm sorry Mike," El finally manages to croak out, tears starting to fall again. "This is all my fault."

"No it's not," He tells her. "Unless you _meant_ to throw me into the wall, but I don't think I'm _that_ shitty a boyfriend."

"But I hurt you," El persists. "You wouldn't be here if-"

"And none of us would be here if you hadn't stopped the shadow monster," Mike interrupts. "I think a concussion is a pretty good alternative."

"But-"

"El, just quit while you're behind," Will advises. "Once Mike gets something in his head, it's almost impossible to change it."

"But-"

"For god's sake, just do it already Mike," Nancy says in exasperation.

El looks back at Mike in confusion, only for him to press their lips together before she can ask a question. Somehow, that tells her everything she needed to know. Mike isn't mad at her, she didn't ruin everything, he still loves her.

"Believe me now?" Mike asks quietly once they separate.

El just nods, not trusting herself to speak for the moment. Mike manages to pull her into a one armed hug from the bed, which she eagerly returns, leaning as close as she can so she can breathe him in. Even after so long apart, he still smells like home.

"See Karen, I told you."

The kids all look up when they hear Joyce speak. The two mothers are standing in the doorway, watching the adorable scene before them. Mrs. Wheeler is the first to come back into the room, holding a hand out to El as the girl stands up.

"You must be Jane, I've heard great things about you," The woman says. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you to," El replies quietly, gingerly returning the handshake how Hopper had shown her.

"So, Joyce tells me that you're going to be Mike's nurse?" She continues, a playful glint in her eye, and the start of a smirk on her lips.

El turns bright pink almost immediately. Max had suggested it, but how had Mrs. Byers known about it?

Said mother has a good laugh at El's embarrassment, quickly joined by Nancy and Will, and soon Mrs. Wheeler as well. El only turns more and more red, until she feels Mike take her hand. He smiles up at her, trying his best to not laugh as well.

It takes her a second, but she smiles back at him too.

Everything is just fine.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed!

Now remember, phobias are specifically "an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something", they don't always make sense to anyone but the person that has them. If you know someone that has a phobia (or phobias), be patient with them. Dealing with phobias takes time, and can be incredibly stressful since it generally involves exposure therapy, but it only gets more difficult if the people around them aren't supportive of their efforts to get help. Encourage the people in your life that live with phobias to seek treatment if it interferes with their ability to function, but don't force them to do it, that just ensures that it won't work. (I'm not a psychologist, this is just friendly advice)

If you have a prompt you want me to write, leave it in a review or send me a PM, I'm keeping a running list.

Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4: The Talk

Ahoy, weary travelers!

I'm back again with yet another story prompt! Of course, that's the whole point of this collection, but it's nice to point it out. I've been absolutely swamped with work, but I managed to throw this together in scattered ten-minute intervals. My illustrious beta reader helped me make it more of a cohesive whole, so thank you again to Writing Tired.

I don't have as much starting spiel this time, as I am currently in another of those ten minute intervals. This prompt was suggested by a user whose profile has since been deleted, but I am an author of my word, so I am fulfilling their request. At the time they sent the prompt their username was iAmCC, which later became Muffinstuff. If you ever see this prompt, I hope you enjoy it.

Prompt: Steve walks in on Lumax kissing and realizes it's time for 'The Talk,' so of course the entire party eavesdrops

* * *

The door closes behind them with a click, immediately muting the noise of their friends outside. It's the first time all day that they've managed to sneak away and be alone together.

"Finally," Lucas mutters, taking a moment to savor the silence.

"Don't forget about me too quickly, stalker," Max teases, moving to sit on the boy's bed. Lucas grins, taking the invitation and sitting as close as physics will allow, slipping one arm around her waist.

The sit like that for a little while, just enjoying being together without any other distractions. Had Dustin seen them, he probably would have said they looked like Mike and El, though they had the forethought to do this in private.

"Hey stalker, you wanna know a secret?" Max asks, breaking the silence.

Lucas opens his mouth to answer, which is exactly when Max takes the opportunity to kiss him. He may have a height advantage, but he's about as aggressive as a rabbit, letting Max's lips tell him what to do.

"So, any guesses?" Max questions when she pulls away.

It takes Lucas several seconds before he can put sounds together in the right order, but it makes Max laugh so it all works out.

"You got a different flavor lip gloss?" He manages to postulate. "Cherry?"

"Just cherry?" She responds, slipping her arms around his neck.

"I think I might need to do some more research," He replies, leaning in again.

"Make sure you're more thorough this time," Max insists before closing the distance once more.

This time Lucas is more assertive in his quest, pulling Max closer until she's almost in his lap. Per her instructions, he makes sure to get as much data as he can, exploring every possibility and variation he can find. Their need for oxygen completely escapes their minds, somehow managing to get just enough to keep going without breaking apart. For a few glorious minutes, the whole rest of the world fades away.

They get so caught up in each other, however, that neither of them hears the footsteps outside until the door bursts open. Standing there is Steve, first looking confused, and then his eyes go wide as dinner plates.

"Shit, sorry!" He exclaims, slamming the door shut behind.

Max and Lucas fly apart like they've been shocked, Max's face almost matching her hair. There's the thump of a door closing across the hall, but it's hard to tell over the sound of their hearts racing in their chests.

"Are you...?" Lucas starts to ask, losing his sentence as he tries to calm his pulse.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Max answers, taking a few deep breaths. "Not really what I was expecting when we came in here."

Lucas nods in agreement, his mind already working through worst case scenarios for if his parents find out that he has a girl alone in his room during the barbecue. First would be the ass-chewing about being a good host to his friends, and then the one about how the door has to stay open if he has a girl over. He'll be lucky if they don't ground him for the rest of the summer.

"We should go back," Max suggests, reaching out and taking his hand. "Before they start noticing we've been gone for a while."

"Yeah," He agrees, standing up and pulling her along with him. "Let's just hope that Steve keeps his mouth shut."

XxX

The rest of the barbeque goes mostly without a hitch. None of the parents noticed they had been gone for around twenty minutes, and their friends only commented as far as teasing them about it. Nancy and Jonathan were off with the adults, and Steve was tagging along with them for the time being.

It's during the clean up that everything starts to go sideways. Max and Lucas volunteer to take the party lights off the fence, really just the christmas lights that the Sinclair's are trying to put to more use, and Steve decides to help them with it.

"I guess you're wondering why I chose to work with you guys instead of staying far away, right?" Steve questions, starting to coil one string of lights around his arm.

"The thought crossed my mind," Max replies, doing the same thing as Lucas unhooks them all from the fence posts.

"Well, since you guys are going into high school, I'm not sure if your parents have had the talk with you yet," Steve starts, getting a combination of groans and affronted looks from the two teens in front of him. "Wait for me to finish, jeeze. I'm not your dad, so it's not really my place to explain the details to you."

"And yet, here we are," Max comments dryly.

"Yeah, I know, you don't need to hear the talk from Steve Harrington," He continues, just as dryly. "But as your friend, I feel obligated to give you some advice that can make your lives a hell of a lot easier in the long run."

"Did you give Mike and Eleven this advice?" Lucas questions, dropping the ends of the first two strings on the ground.

"Not yet, but have you seen them?" Steve responds, nodding his head in the pair's direction, clearing plates off the assortment of tables. "For right now, kissing is as far as El understands until Mrs. Byers has the talk with her, and I know for a fact she's trying to leave that part of it out for as long as possible."

"So we're just stuck with you?" Max deduces.

"If you're that opposed, I can leave," Steve replies. "I just want to save you guys from making the same mistakes everyone else does, but I won't fight you on it."

Max and Lucas share a look, and then both of them roll their eyes.

"Fine, spill it," Lucas tells him, trying to get a lightbulb between the wires without breaking it off.

"Always use a condom," Steve says bluntly. "It doesn't matter when or where, just keep one somewhere you can reach it. It's not worth the risk when you're still in high school, so don't take it."

Neither of the younger teens say anything, looking away from Steve as he speaks.

"Don't try to convince each other to have sex if one of you doesn't really want to," He continues. "If it takes anything more that light persuasion, you'll have more doubts or regrets after its done. And _always_ , and I cannot stress this enough, _always_ get consent before you start anything."

"Is that really necessary if we're dating?" Max asks, just as bluntly.

"Yes, it is," He answers. "It doesn't matter if you're dating or even if you're married, until someone says "yes, I want to do this", then you haven't confirmed consent. It doesn't have to be in those words, it doesn't even have to be long, but the yes is the key."

The two teens nod; it makes enough sense, even if it might seem like overkill to them right now.

"Same thing if one of you changes their mind," Steve adds. "Even if you said yes, if you're not feeling it anymore once you start, you can stop, and the other one needs to respect that. Your body belongs to you, so you get to decide what happens to it."

"Is this just a lecture about safe sex?" Lucas questions, dropping the second ends.

"And general relationship advice," Steve answers. "I've screwed enough relationships up to know what doesn't work, so take advantage of my sagely advice while I'm offering."

The two look at each other again, rolling their eyes in unison.

"Moving on," Steve says, ignoring their silent conversation. "Don't think you have to spend every moment of every day together to be a couple. If you have no lives outside of each other, then you'll get sick of each other and break up."

"You should tell that to Mileven over there," Max mutters. "They're attached at the hip all the time."

"El is kind of a special case, but they're a different story altogether," Steve responds, finishing his second coil. "For you guys, remember that you're still kids in high school. You're not invincible, just assume you don't know what you're doing until proven otherwise, and add at least ten minutes to any schedule for when something goes wrong and you have to change plans."

"Is this supposed to make us feel better?" Lucas asks, starting to work the last strings of lights out of the fence.

"Not especially, it's supposed to make you less stupid in the future," Steve answers honestly. "Because once you graduate it gets more and more clear that nobody really knows what they're doing, and they're just starting to realize that they're not invincible anymore. It's all a big game of pretending to know what you're doing until you figure out what you can do with your life."

"Marine biology," Max replies without a moment of hesitation.

Steve pauses for a moment, looking all over Max's expression.

"Well, then you're one of the lucky few who knows what they want to do early on," He congratulates. "Just listen to the rest of the advice so you don't have to put those plans on hold."

"We're not idiots, Steve, we'll be fine," Lucas assures him, glaring at a particularly annoying bulb.

"That's what everyone says, until they make one stupid decision," Steve retorts. "Contrary to what you may think, I want you guys to be happy, and you'll be a lot happier if you wait until you're fully grown to have a kid."

"Speaking from experience?" Max questions sarcastically.

"Not directly," He responds, stopping his coiling. "I had a friend, Ethan, who dropped out freshman year because he got his girlfriend pregnant. Neither of their parents wanted anything to do with it, so he's been working two or three minimum wage jobs for the last few years trying to raise a kid."

Lucas and Max both stop what they're doing as Steve tells the story, neither one willing to interrupt with their usual sarcasm.

"He wasn't a straight A student, but he wasn't dumb," Steve explains. "He wanted to be a vet, work with animals. His girlfriend wanted to be a nurse. Now they have a three year old and can barely stand each other."

For a while after he stops nobody speaks, the only sounds coming from their friends and parents cleaning up.

"Thanks, Steve," Max finally says, her voice hushed. "For caring."

"Don't worry about it," He tells them. "Like I said, I just want you guys to be happy. I'm not your dad, either of you, so it's not my job to tell you not to have sex until you're married, but I _can_ tell you how to not be stupid about it."

Lucas and Max both nod, still a little uncomfortable having this conversation with Steve, but a little better for it nonetheless.

"Steve, don't take this the wrong way man," Lucas says after a few moments of silence. "But let's _never_ have this conversation again."

Steve and Max both lose it, almost dropping their coils when they burst out laughing.

"Well, if you were paying attention, we should never _need_ to," Steve replies, managing to keep his composure long enough to get the words out.

Lucas joins in laughing as he drops the ends of the last cords, going back and picking up the finished coils as Max and Steve finish. Looking around, everyone else has finished their tasks already and vanished inside.

"Glad to know they waited for us," Lucas mutters, taking the last two coils to go back in the garage.

"They're probably just in the basement, we still have the movie to watch," Max reminds him. "Or did you forget about that?"

"What're we watching again?" Lucas questions, kicking the back door to the garage open.

"I think El chose Footloose," Max answers. "She wanted to see the one about the dancing bacon."

Lucas just sighs and shakes his head, stuffing the lights in a bin and quickly rejoining his girlfriend. They go back inside the house, carefully avoiding the kitchen full of parents, and head to the basement. It's not quite as big as the Wheeler's, but it doesn't have the washer and dryer in it, so there's still enough space for the six of them to squeeze around the tv.

"Took you guys long enough," Dustin comments when they sit down.

"It's not our fault that Steve was talking our ears off," Max retorts as El starts the video, not getting up from her seat beside Mike.

"Oh, I'm sure he was," Mike says with a light chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas asks, giving his friend a hard look.

"Oh, nothing," Mike answers with a faint smirk. "But don't worry, we made sure you weren't hiding any under the cushions before we sat down."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Max demands.

"They're just being idiots, don't worry," Will assures her, not looking away from the television screen.

Max and Lucas both try to figure out what they friends are up to by looking around, but that gives them almost nothing to work with.

"We just didn't have the future Marine Biologist here to model off of," Dustin adds, giving the pair a cheeky grin.

It suddenly clicks for the two of them, and the realization is mortifying.

"You were spying on us?!" Lucas exclaims, not sure whether to be more embarrassed or angry.

"Not the whole thing, we caught the second half," Mike tells them.

"We'd have gotten more, but Dustin couldn't find a static channel," El clarifies, her grin somehow worse than the other three. It's only then that Max and Lucas notice the bloody tissue in her hand.

"Never thought Steve would be one to give you guys the talk," Will comments, edging farther away from them as he speaks.

"You guys are assholes," Max informs them, trying to fight down the blush on her face so she can be appropriately mad.

"Says the one who called the two of us Mileven instead of using our names," Mike retorts, gesturing to himself and El. "Which, coming from Mucas, is rich."

"Ok, but, to be fair," Dustin interjects. "We _all_ call you Mileven when you aren't listening. It's just quicker since you guys do the same things anyway."

"I like it," El says, squeezing Mike's hand. "We're Mileven."

The topic shifts so quickly, but that doesn't change the fact the Max and Lucas are still fuming by the stairs.

"Sorry for eavesdropping, you guys," Will apologizes while the other three continue their debate. "It seemed rude to tune out during Steve's story, or we would have."

Max and Lucas share another look, and then they both sigh. It's not like the conversation had any of their personal lives in it, it was just an awkward subject.

"Let's just watch the movie," Lucas says, moving toward the open half of the couch, gently tugging Max along with him.

"Yeah, we can get our revenge another day," Max agrees, a devilish grin splitting her face as she sits down.

"Wait until after the movie at least," El responds as they finally get to the start of the movie. "I want to see it first."

They all laugh at that, though El seems a little confused as to why. Mike does his best to explain it at a whisper, but El's attention is still on the movie. Dustin manages to hit Lucas in the forehead with a piece of popcorn, getting two in return from him and Max. Will tries to shrink back from the exchange, but since he's holding one of the two popcorn bowls, he gets stuck in it anyway.

Older and wiser or not, some things never change.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed!

I think that went rather well. The issue I ran into when starting this was that, as much as I love mom Steve, he knows that he's not anyone's parent, so he wouldn't take it upon himself to give the talk to any of the kids. However, knowing his old party boy ways, I thought the story he told could have been a likely scenario. And the rest of the the talk he gave comes from every lecture I've ever gotten from parents, mentors, and school officials at every level since the 5th grade.

Hopefully I won't be gone for months next time, but I can make no promises. I hope you all at least follow this story so you can get a notification when I update every once in a blue moon.

If you have a prompt you want me to write, leave it in a review or send me a PM, I'm keeping a running list.

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Under the Weather- Part 1

Hello again!

Welcome back to another exciting one-shot, this time requested by disneyprincess315! It took me longer than expected to get around to writing it, but tis the way of the world. There will be a second installment of this prompt coming later, though I cannot say when.

Prompt: El catches the flu, so Mike takes care of her

* * *

"Stay a little longer?" El pleads, getting Mike's attention back as he packs his backpack to go home.

"You know I can't," Mike replies, though he still gets up and moves closer to her. "Hopper will actually strangle me if I ask to stay."

"He won't hurt you," El promises, still trying her best puppy dog look. "I'll protect you, promise."

Mike smiles, and then kisses El's forehead.

"I know you will," He says, smiling at his girlfriend. "But if we still want to go to the movies tomorrow, I have to go home tonight."

El pouts, but relents. They've been planning to go see Back to the Future together since it came out a month ago, and Hopper had finally agreed to let them go without supervision.

"Ok," She murmurs, leaning her head against Mike's chest. "But be back early."

"Nine o'clock, on the dot," Mike swears, hugging El close and resting his chin on top of her head. It lets him feel the shiver than runs through her, and he pulls back to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just cold," She says, a little twinkle in her eye.

"Well, I think I can help with that," Mike responds, leaning down to meet her.

Their lips come together, a warm feeling spreading through them both. No matter how many months pass, neither one will ever get over finally being able to be this close to each other.

They fly apart when Hopper clears his throat, Mike turning beet red, and El sporting a light blush, though she just seems annoyed at the interruption.

"It's after ten," He points out, looking at the clock on the radio, which reads ten fifteen. If looks could kill, Mike would be six feet under.

"We were just saying goodbye," Mike tries to cover, quite unsuccessfully. "About to head out the door."

"Uh huh," Hopper responds, looking at the books and papers still laid out on the table from their tutoring session. "Don't make me reconsider tomorrow."

He leaves that threat hanging as he heads back to his office/bedroom. Mike quickly stuffs the rest of his things into his backpack, giving El a nice warm hug before he steals a last kiss. She watches from the doorway as Mike starts walking his bike back down the path, lifting it over the tripwire.

El shivers again once he's out of sight, closing and bolting the door. Once she's wearing pajamas she wraps herself in every blanket she can find before drifting off to sleep.

XxX

Mike is true to his word, climbing the steps of the cabin as the last few seconds tick down to nine o'clock. He times his special knock, the more code for 'El', exactly as the time changes.

He's not met by the traditional door flying open tackle hug that he's grown used to. For thirty seconds absolutely nothing happens, and Mike starts to go through worst case scenarios. What if the bad men had come back after he left last night? What if there was another Demogorgon attack?

When the door finally does open, it's Hopper standing there, looking less than pleased by Mike's presence.

"It's not gonna work out today, kid," He says. "El's got the flu, so she's under quarantine until further notice."

Mike breaths a half sigh of relief at the news. Sick with the flu is better than captured by bad men or abducted by the Demogorgon. Still, he promised that they would spend the day together.

"I can take care of her," Mike offers, trying to sound casual. "I mean, you must have a lot of work to do, being the Chief of Police and all. If you'd rather not miss the whole day, I can take care of El."

Hopper fixes him with a look, and Mike tries not to fidget too much under the gaze. It seems very likely that Hopper might just shoot him and rid himself of the headache once and for all.

Then he sighs and steps aside for Mike to come in.

"If I didn't know there was a mountain of paperwork I have to do you'd be on your way home," He tells the teen. "She's got the whole nine yards, fever is 102, so make sure you keep washing your hands. And no funny business in my cabin."

"Yes sir," Mike agrees, hearing a phlegmy cough from El's room.

"There's some cans of soup in the cupboard, and the washcloths are under the bathroom sink if her fever starts rising," Hopper continues. "Make sure she eats something, real food not eggos, and drinks plenty of water. There's aspirin on the counter if she starts complaining, but don't go overboard."

Mike nods, making careful note of each thing in case needs them.

"I'll be home by six, but if anything happens, use the radio," Hopper concludes, still fixing Mike with his gaze as he gestures to the device in question. "The phone is for emergencies only, so unless there are agents or demodogs at the door, I better not be getting a call."

"Understood," Mike agrees, hearing another cough from El's room.

Hopper gives the boy one least glare before he leaves, and Mike puts the locks back in place when they don't click back on their own.

"El?" Mike calls, knocking on her doorway.

"Mike?" She calls back, her voice hoarse, punctuated by another round of coughs.

"It's me," He says, stepping into the room and seeing the dozens of tissues scattered around. "Hopper's letting me take care of you today."

Mike takes immediate notice of how different El looks right now, even wearing her usual set of pink flannel pajamas with white polka dots that had been Nancy's at some point. Her eyes are hazy and distant, and her cheeks are flushed pink. Her hair, straightening out now that its getting longer, is a knotty mess around her head. Hopper had left a pot next to her, probably for if she throws up, and not one, but two space heaters to keep the room incredibly warm.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, moving closer to the bed.

"Not good," She responds. "Throat hurts, eyes itch, nose is running."

"Is there anything you want?" Mike questions, unsure of what to do despite his decision to play nurse today. "Water? Or Hopper said there's some soup."

"No food," She tells her boyfriend definitively, shaking her head. "Already threw up, twice."

"You need to get your strength up, El," Mike insists, daring to take one of her hands in his. "You'll feel better if you eat something."

El is quiet for a little while, staring at her blankets, and then turns her clouded gaze to Mike.

"Eggos?" She asks hopefully.

"I don't know, Hopper said not to-"

"Please?" El insists, pouting at her boyfriend.

Mike is powerless to resist, giving her hand a squeeze before moving to the kitchen. He can hear the coughs continuing as he puts two of the frozen waffles in the toaster, knowing he should be giving her soup instead. Mike's brain works overtime to remember what his mother usually does when one of them has the flu, but all he can really make sense of is a lot of soup, jello, and applesauce.

With a glance at El's door, closed halfway to keep the heat inside, Mike takes a pot and a can of soup out of the cupboard. It takes a few extra minutes to prepare, the eggos popping up just as the soup starts to heat up.

When he walks back in, he has a glass of water and bowl of soup.

"Mike," El complains, seeing the bowl. "Eggos."

"I'll make you as many eggos as you want, but first you need to eat real food," Mike tells her, pulling her desk chair over with his foot. "You don't want to waste eggos if you can't keep them down, do you?"

El pouts, but shakes her head.

"Now open," He says, taking a spoonful of soup and blowing on it for her to cool it. "It's chicken noodle, it's good."

Too tired to raise her arms and do it herself, El accepts her boyfriend feeding her. While she won't say it out loud, the soup does taste really good, and it makes her tummy feel warm. Once the bowl is finished, much faster than El had anticipated, she actually does feel better.

Mike wipes her mouth with a tissue for her, and then holds the glass of water out to her. She takes a few sips, but with food now in her stomach, it's getting harder and harder to stay awake. If not for the fact that she can only breathe through her mouth, and her throat is killing her, she'd already have passed out.

"Thanks Mike," She murmurs, starting to drift off.

Mike smiles, and chances giving her a kiss on the forehead. It's burning when his lips touch it, but El is asleep before he can say anything. He takes another few seconds just to observe before getting a cool washcloth to lay on her forehead.

El stays asleep for several hours, Mike alternating between sitting at her bedside and wandering the cabin. Every so often he replaces the cloth to keep it cool.

It's not until he's putting together a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch that anything else starts to happen. It starts as a faint rattle of glass and ceramic, which Mike disregards as the cabin settling, until all the things on the bookshelf by the door shoot off the shelves at once. The few fragile ones shatter on the ground, startling Mike so much that he almost drops his sandwich.

Next the television turns on by itself, except this time, Mike hears the massive sneeze coming from El's room. With a look around at all the many breakable and sharp objects in the kitchen, Mike quickly sets the tiny latches on the cupboards, just in time for the next sneeze, several cups shattering behind the little wooden doors. He almost loses his sandwich when it flies off the counter, just barely catching the plate by diving before it shatters on the floor.

"El!" He calls, moving back toward her room, though he keeps a wary eye on the many loose objects around the cabin. "Are you okay?"

The only response he gets is another massive sneeze, and a lamp to almost brain him on its way to the wall. He rushes back into the bedroom, covering his head with his arms when she sneezes again, hearing several things break outside.

El has a thin trickle of blood coming from her nose, and a few little rivulets from her nose. Fresh tear tracks run down her cheeks, and she gives Mike a pained look when she notices him. A mess of bloody tissues sits in front of her, all trying to keep her from sneezing another time.

Mike hastily grabs another box of tissues from El's desk, taking a bunch out for her.

"Here, just try to blow your nose before you need to sneeze again," He tells her, holding the tissue wad out to her. She tries to take it, but her fingers just feel tired and numb, so he holds it to her nose. "Blow, just get it out."

El does as asked, forcefully expelling as much blood and mucus from her nose as she can manage. Mike balls it up and tosses it in the trash before repeating the process, until El can't manage any more. She goes to take another breath so she can blow harder, but then she starts coughing, and then the coughing turns to hacking, until she finally cuts off abruptly.

"Are you o-?"

Mike's question goes unfinished when El grabs the pot Hopper had left for her, heaving the contents of her stomach out into it. At a loss for what to do, Mike just stands there in shock, until he remembers the few teen movies he and El had watched together. He carefully moves her hair out of the way for her, holding it behind her head. Even without touching her skin, he can feel the heat radiating off of her, even more than before.

El heaves and heaves until there's nothing left to give, until she's empty of food, of water, and even of _feeling_. With nothing left to keep her going, she lets out a sad, tired sigh.

"Are you alright, El?" Mike asks, a little awkwardly seeing what just happened. "Do you want me to help you to the bathroom, if it's gonna happen again?"

"I'm fine," She murmurs, swaying a little, side to side. "Need more sleep."

"Before you do, just take some of this," Mike tells her, holding the glass of water to her lips. "You don't need to drink it, but it'll help get the taste out of your mouth."

El gingerly takes a few sips, swishing them around before spitting them into the pot. She manages to drink a few, the water helping to soothe her throat a bit. Mike wipes her face with some tissues, and then El collapses back into her bed, under her mountain of blankets, asleep before her head hits the pillow.

Mike lets out a pent up breath, fully unprepared for what had just happened. He throws out the tissues, and then takes the pot to dump down the toilet, rinsing it out a few times to get rid of everything. It's not the most pleasant task he's ever done, but he manages to keep a hold on his stomach while doing it.

Once he returns the pot to El's bedside, he takes stock of the cabin. There's a lot of broken glass and ceramic all over the floor, as well as a plethora of other things that had survived their telekinetic flight. With another light sigh, he takes the broom from the kitchen, starting to sweep everything into piles. It takes several more hours to get everything back to how it was that morning, his sandwich completely forgotten on the counter. Every so often he goes to change the cloth on El's forehead, wiping around her neck to try to cool it down a little.

During one such time, El stirs, looking around with bleary eyes.

"Mike?" She murmurs, managing to reach out and hold his wrist.

"Are you feeling any better?" He responds immediately, moving closer and setting the old cloth down by the pot. "Do you need anything?"

"Need...tell you..." She says quietly, still not fully conscious.

"What is it?" Mike asks, kneeling down so they're closer to face-to-face.

El tugs on his wrist, pulling him closer, and he obliges.

"I love you," She whispers, a happy smile on her lips. Then her grip goes slack as she falls back asleep, leaving Mike doing his best tomato impression mere inches from her face.

"I love you too..." He murmurs quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And someday I'll be able to tell you when you're awake."

It's only another hour or two before Hopper gets home, performing the secret knock. Mike goes to unlock the door himself, one of the deadbolts jamming for a few seconds when he tries to slide it. Hopper doesn't say hello, grunting as he comes in the door and hangs up his hat.

"How's she doing?" He asks.

"She asleep, has been for most of the day," Mike reports. "I got her to eat a little soup earlier, but she threw it up later after..."

He trails off, not quite knowing how to describe what had happened.

"Let me guess, she started sneezing?" Hopper says with a sigh. "Everything that wasn't tied down started flying around?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that," Mike tells him. "I did my best to clean up, but there might still be a few chips I missed, so watch your step."

"I'm surprised the lamps survived this time," Hopper observes, taking stock of what's left in his cabin.

"This time?" Mike questions. "This has happened before?"

"El got a cold a few months after I took her in," Hopper explains. "Every time she sneezed, things started flying. Seems like it's harder to control her powers when she's sick."

Mike nods, glad that he hadn't gotten brained by a flying glass. He'd be a pretty crummy caretaker if he got killed on his first day.

"Yeah, according to Doc Owens, it happens when she gets sick, or if she lets her emotions get away from her, kind of like a fight or flight instinct," Hopper continues when Mike looks away from him. "If she ever has kids she'll probably break every window in the hospital."

Mike's chokes on his breath, starting to cough uncontrollably, his face turning bright red. Hopper lets himself smirk at Mike's reaction, but quickly schools his features back to a neutral glare. He has to have _some_ fun, especially if he's going to have to live with Mike always being around.

"I think it's time you head home," Hopper says once Mike can breathe again. "You can come back tomorrow if you really want, but I have the day off already."

"Nine?" Mike asks hopefully.

"Ten, at the _absolute_ earliest," Hopper tells him, not in the mood for an argument. "If she's feeling better, I _might_ let you stay."

Mike decides not to push his luck.

"Can I say goodbye at least?" Mike requests, and Hopper sighs.

"Fine, but make it quick," The surly chief responds, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and going back out onto the porch to light it.

Mike doesn't waste any of his precious time waiting for Hopper to leave, or even to close the door. When he goes into El's room, once again hit by the heat, El is starting to stir again. Her eyes are clearer than before, but she still has the flush of a fever on her cheeks.

"Hopper's home, so it looks like I have to leave," Mike says softly, getting her attention. "I'll try to come back tomorrow though, and I'll bring some games to play if you're feeling better."

"Mike," El says, very matter of factly, reaching out to take his hand in her. "I need your help."

"Anything," Mike promises immediately. "What do you need?"

"I really need to pee," She tells him seriously. "But the blankets are too heavy."

Mike struggles to process the request, having expected something much...bigger than that. Then his eyes go wide when he realizes he hasn't responded, and promptly starts peeling back the layers of blankets covering his girlfriend.

"That's a lot of blankets," Mike comments, finally freeing her from the last one.

"I was cold," El says simply, slowly standing up on wobbly legs. She pulls Mike into a hug, still radiating heat off of herself. "Thanks for taking care of me today."

"Any time," He replies almost reflexively. "There's nothing else I'd rather do, if it means we're together."

El smiles at him, and then gives him a kiss on the cheek. Mike helps her out of her room, and then she stops him.

"Goodnight Mike," She murmurs. "See you tomorrow."

She turns slowly and wobbles toward the bathroom, one hand against the wall for support. Once the door closes behind her, Mike finally remembers that he needs to leave. He grabs his backpack, almost nothing in it since they were planning to go to the movies.

On his way out, he passes Hopper on the porch, smoking his evening cigarette.

"Make sure you take a good shower when you get home," The man says as Mike goes past him. "Can't be El's nurse if you get sick too."

Mike's face lights up like a traffic light, mumbling a hasty goodnight before setting off down the path with his bicycle. Once he's out of sight in the darkness, Hopper allows himself a nice chuckle, flicking cigarette ash to the ground.

"This can work," He says to himself, imagining all the ways he can mess with Mike and still maintain his threatening image. "This can definitely work."

He tosses his cigarette down and grinds it out underfoot, going back inside to check on his daughter, closing the door behind him and shifting all the locks into place.

"Maybe I should look into some houses for sale in town," He muses, forcing the last deadbolt into place. "Downside, Mike is closer. Upside, so is everywhere I can buy alcohol."

When he hears a door open behind him, he turns, seeing his daughter wobbling from the bathroom back to her room.

"Feeling any better now?" He asks, remembering how she'd been when she woke him up at six in the morning.

She nods, pausing in her doorway.

"You let Mike stay," She states. "No supervision. Why?"

Hopper sighs, she caught on quick, just like always. He's already got a craving for another cigarette.

"A little test of faith," He answers honestly. "And your boyfriend did ok."

El smiles, knowing exactly what Hopper said, but didn't say.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed!

I know El was unconscious for most of the story, but I think it served its purpose quite well. Hopper gave Mike a test, and he passed with flying colors! AND Hopper's going the route of sarcastic/threatening dad instead of just threatening!

And, since I can't stop thinking about it, Season 3 was AMAZING! No spoilers here, but I was on the edge of my seat! I do have some complaints about certain things, but overall review is 11/10, so go watch it if you haven't yet!

If you have a prompt you want me to write, leave it in a review or send me a PM, I'm keeping a running list.

Until next time!


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